358 
6 



SB 358 

.R6 ^ 

-opy 1 £v 



"^&^^, 



THE 



OECHAED HOUSE; 

OR, 

CULTURE OF FRUIT-TREES IN POTS UNDER GLASS. 

CONTAIXIXG 

PLANS AND ESTIMATES FOR COXSTRUCTIOX, DETAILS OF MAXAGEME^^'T AND 
CULTURE, AND A LIST OF FRUITS BEST ADAPTP TO THE PURPOSE. 

SAWBEIDGEWOPvTII, ENGLAND. 

ALSO AN APPENDIX, 

CONTAINING ADDITIONAL DIRECTIONS FOR 



LANDSCAPE GAEDENEK, GEKMANTOWN, PA,, 



NEW YORK: 
0. M. SAXTON, BARKER AND COMPANY. 




No, 25 PARK ROW. 
1860. 




FPLIOE, 4rO OEISTTS. 



AGRICULTURAL BOOKS 

PUBUSHED BY 

C. M. SAXTON, BARKER & CO., 



C. M. Saxton, ) 
E. D. Barker, r 
B. F. Libbey. ) 



25 PARK ROW NEW YORK. 



( Address of i , 

■{ N. C. Miller, 
( S5 Park Row. 



Single coj^ies of any Boole vpcn this List senl hy mail, -post-paid, to any address, upon receipt of its price. 



American Farmer's Encyclopedia, $4 00 

American Woods and Useful Plants, 1 50 

Allen's (R. h.) American Farm Book, 1 00 

Allen's (R. L.) Diseases of Domestic Animals,.. . . 75 

Allen's (L. F.) Rural Architecture, 1 25 

Allen (J. Fislt) on the Culture of the Grape, 1 00 

American Architect, 6 00 

American Florist's Guide, to 

Barry's Fruit Garden, 1 25 

Bement's (C. N.) Rabbit Fancier, 50 

Blake's (Rev. John L.) Farmer at Home, 1 25 

Blake's Every-day Book, or Life in the Country, 2 25 

Boussingault's (J. B.) Rural Economy, 1 25 

Browne's American Bird Fancier, 50 

Browne's American Poultry Yard,. . : 1 00 

Browne's Field Book of Manures, 1 25 

Bridgeman's (T.) Young Gardener's Assistant,.. 1 50 

Bridgeman's Kitchen Gardener's Instructor 60 

The Same, cloth back, paper sides, 50 

Bridgeman's Florist's Guide, 60 

The Same, cloth back, paper sides, 50 

Bridgeman's Fruit Cultivator's Manual, 60 

The Same, cloth back, paper sides, 50 

Brock's (Joseph) Book of Flowers, 1 00 

Buist's (Robert) Am. Flower Garden Directory,.. 1 25 

Buist's (Robert) Family Kitchen Gardener 75 

Chorlton's (William) Grape-Growers' Guide, 60 

Cobbett's American Gardener, 50 

Cottage and Farm Bee-Keeper 50 

Cole's (S. W.) American Fruit Book, 50 

Cole's American Veterinarian, 50 

Dadd's (Geo. H.) Modern Horse Doctor 1 00 

Dadd's (Geo. H.) American Cattle Doctor, 1 00 

Dadd's (Geo. H.) Anatomy and Physiology of the 

Horse, . . . plain plates 2 00 

The Same, . . colored plates .. . 4 00 

Dana's (Samuel H.) Muck Manual, for Farmers, 1 00 

Domestic and Ornamental Poultry, plain plates, . . 1 00 

The Same, . . . colored plates 2 00 

Downing's (A. J.) Landscape Gardening, 3 50 

Eastwood (B.) on the Cultivation of the Cranberry, 50 

Elliott's (F. R.) Western Fruit Book, 1 25 

Every Lad y Her Own Flower-Gardener , 50 

Family Doctor, - 2 00 

Farm Record, printed and ruled for 25 years,. . . 3 00 

Farmer's Practical Horse Farrier, 60 

French's Farm Drainage, 1 00 

Fessenden's (T. G.) Am. Kitchen Gardener,.... 50 

Fessenden's (T. G.) Complete Farmer & Gardener, 1 25 

Field's (Thomas W.) Pear Culture, 1 00 

FishCulture, 1 00 

Flint (Charles L.) on Grasses 1 25 

Grant's (Dr. C. W.) Vine Culture, 1 25 

Guenon on Milch Cows, 60 

The Same, . in neat paper covers,. 8vo, 38 

Gunn (John C.) Domestic Medicine, 3 00 

Hall's (Miss E. M.) American Cookery and Do- 
mestic Economy, 1 00 

Herbert's (Henry Wm.) Hints to Horsekeepers, 1 25 



Hooper's Dog and Gun, SO 50 

Hunt's (Dr. E. M.) Patient's & Physician's Aid ,".' 1 00 
Johnston's (.James F. W.) Catechism of Agri- 
cultural Chemistry and Geology, 25 

Johnston's (James F. W.) Elements' of Agri- 
cultural Chemistry and Geology, i oo 

Johnston's (J. F. W.) Agricultural Chemistry,". ! '. 1 25 

Langstroth (Rev. L. L.) on the Hive & Honey Bee' 1 25 

Leuchars' How to Build and Ventilate Hothouses 1 25 

Liebig's (Justus) Familfar Lectures on Chemistry' 50 

Linsley's (D. C.) Morgan Horses, i co 

Milburn on the Cow and Dairy Husbandry,.'. .... 50 
Miles on the Horse's Foot and How to Ke'e'p it 

Sound, 50 

Minor's (T. B.) Bee-keeper's Manual', !!.'.'."!'.! .' .' .' 1 00 

Morfit (C.) on Manures, 33 

Munn's (B.) Practical Land Drainer, 50 

Nash's (J. A.) Progressive Farmer, '...'.'. 60 

Neil's Practical Fruit, Flower and Kitchen Gar- 
dener's Companion, 1 00 

Norton's (John P.) Elements of Scienti'fi'c 'igri'- 

culture, eo 

Olcott's (Henry S.) Sorgho and 'imph'eej'tlie 

Chinese and African Sugar Canes , 1 00 

Pardee (R. G.) on Strawberry Culture, 60 

Peddor's (James) Farmer's Land Measurer, 50 

Quinby's Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained,. . 1 00 

Randall's (Henry S.) Sheep Husbandry, 1 25 

Reemelin's (Chas.) Vine-Dresser's Manual, 50 

Richardson on Dogs ; their Origin & Varieties,. . . 50 

River's (Wm.) Orchard House, 40 

Rose Culturist, ][ 50 

Robin's (R.) Produce and Ready Reckoner, 60 

Saxton's Rural Hand-Books, in 4 Series, each 1 25 

Schenck's Gardener's Text-Book, 50 

Shepherd's Own Book, 2 00 

Skilful Housewife, 50 

Smith's (C. H. J.) Landscape Gardening, Parks 

and Pleasure Grounds, 1 25 

Stephens' (Henry) Book of the Farm, 2 vols. 4 00 

Stewart's (John) Stable Book, 1 00 

Stray Leaves from the Book of Nature, 1 00 

Talpa ; the Chronicles of a Clay Farm , 75 

Thaer's (Albert D.) Agriculture, 2 00 

Thomas (John J.) Farm Implements, 1 00 

Thomas (J. J.) American Fruit Culturist, 1 25 

Thompson (R. D.) on the Food of Animals, 75 

Todd's (S. E.) Young Farmer's Manual, 1 25 

Turner's (J. A.) Cotton Planter's Manual, 1 00 

Walden's (J. H.) Soil Culture, 1 00 

Warder's (J. A.) Hodges and Evergreens, I 00 

Waring's (G. E., Jr.) Elements of Agriculture,.. . 75 

Weeks' (John M..) Manual on Bees, 50 

Wheat Plant, 1 50 

White's (W. N.) Gardening for the South, 1 25 

Youatt and Spooner on the Horse, 1 25 

Youatt and Martin on Cattle, 1 25 

Youatt and Martin on the Hog, 75 

Youatt on Sheep, 75 



RURAL HAND-BO OKS.-Paper Covers.— 25 cents Each. 

American Bird Fancier. American Kitchen Gardener. American Horse Tamer. ^Bee Culture. 

Bee-Keeper's Chart. Chemistry made Easy. Chinese Sugar Cane and Sugar Making. Culture of Flax. 

Bement's Rabbit Fancier. Cow ; Dairy Husbandry and Breeding Dogs ; their Origin and Varieties. 

Dog and Gun. Domestic Fowls. ^Elements of Agriculture. Every Lady Her Own Gardener. 

Essay on Manures. ^Familiar Lectures on Chemistry. Hogs. ^Horse's Foot, and How to Keep it Sound. 

Horse. Hyde's Chinese Sugar Cane. ^Hive and Honey Bee. ^Manual on Bees. ^Pests of the Farm. 

Perzos on the Vine. Preservation of Food. ^Rose. Skilful Housewife. ^Vine Dresser's Manual. 

Spooner on Grape Vines and Wine-Making. Vine Culture and Wine-Making. 





THE 



OKCHAED HOUSE; 

OE, 

CULTURE OF FRUIT-TEEES IN POTS UNDEE GLASS. 

CONTAINING 

PLANS MJ) ESTIMATES FOU COXSTRUCTIOJf, DETAILS OF MANAGEMENT AND 
CULTURE, AND A LIST OF FEUITS BEST ADAPTED TO THE PURPOSE. 

SATVBPJDGEWOBTH, ENGLAND. 

ALSO AN APPENDIX, 

CONTAINING ADDITIONAL DIRECTIONS TOR 



€7^ 



®|lt* 



BIZ- WILXjI^IvI: S-A.XJlsriDER,S, 

LANDSCAPE GAPvDENEE, GEEMANTOWN, PA., 



^^ Or CO/v 



U. S. A 



INEW YORK: 
C. M. SAXTON, BARKER AND COMPANY. 

No . 25 PARK ROW. 
1860. 






CONTENTS, 



The Orchard House 6 

The Lean-to Orchard House 7 

Buildei-'s Estimate 10 

American Estimate 10 

Small Span-Roofed Orchard HlOusc 12 

Large Span-Roofed Orchard House 13 

Peaches and Nectarines 21 

Plums 26 

Cherries 29 

Pigs 30 

Pears 31 

Grapes. 32 

Apples , 34 



Mulberries 

Strawberries 

Almonds 

The Forcing Orchard House 

Tlie Hedge Orchard House 

The Tropical Orchard House 

Insects and How to Destroy Them 

Monthly Calendar for the Management of 
the Orchard House throughout the Year 

The Brick Arnott's Stove 

The Arnott's Stove Boiler 

A Select List of Fruits Adapted for Or- 
chard-House Culture 



APPENDIX. 

Fruit Trees in Orchard Houses 53 

Pot Culture of Grapes 55 



EDWAED O. JENKINS, 

Printer & Sterfotgper, 
No. 25 Fkankfoet Street. 





THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 



A feio words of preface and apology to the first edition. — It has been, 
and is, too often the custom of writers on horticulture and agriculture, to 
write first and practice afterwards, — in other words, to promulgate a pretty 
theory, and then reduce it to practice : I have not been " to this manner 
given," for in this, as well as in other instances, I have ^-educed my prac- 
tice to writing. The method of culture given in the following pages, has 
been to me a pleasant relaxation from the cares of an extensive business ; 
and I feel convinced that it may be made equally agreeable to a numerous 
class of busy men, who make their gardens a source of untiring, quiet 
enjoyment. 

It is very probable that some who may be tempted to read the following 
pages will feel surprised that I have made ;' \^eparate publication on so 
trifling a subject, when so many horticultural jriodicals are open to those 
who cannot write a large book. They may say, " Why not occupy a few 
columns in the ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' or a few pages in the ' Cottage 
Gardener V " My motive must be my apology. 

For many years our parish church, from causes not proper ^^ be men- 
tioned here, was in a fearfully dilapidated state : a partial ^pair has 
rescued it from serious consequences; still, much more is r.. Quired. A 
hint from one warmly and actively interested in its restoratioii lias induced 
me to dedicate the profits resulting from this little publication towards such 
a sacred and, I trust, praiseworthy object. I hope not to be misunderstood. 
It is not ostentation that has tempted me to this ; no love of fame, but 
purely the wish to disseminate a taste for refined horticultural pursuits, and 
a hope that I, a humble agent, may be, through this, enabled to contribute 
a trifle towards the restoration of the church of my forefathers, and, I trust, 
of my children's children. 

The same to the fifth edition. — When I ventured to publish the first edi- 
tion of this little work, I scarcely dared to hope that it would meet with a 
reception so favorable, and fulfil so quickly the purpose to which it was 
dedicated. Orchard houses are now familiar things : hundreds are rising 
up all over the face of the country : no garden structures have ever so 
rapidly advanced in popularity. That they deserve to be popular, I am 
more than ev.er convinced ; and I cannot help feeling grateful that, through 
the exercise of my humble literary ability, so much good, because so much 
intellectual pleasure, has been derived from this new mode of cultivating 
fruit trees. In the following pages it will be seen that the idea has not 
" grown with my growth," — for I am old and grey-headed, — but rather with 
my age. 

We are, however, as yet only children in orchard-house culture. Every 

moderate sized garden in England — more particularly in the North — and in 

Scotland, will, in the course of a few years, have its orchard house. They 

will glisten on highland and lowland, and gladden many a garden-lover 

pwith their genial climate and varied produce. 






THE ORCHAED HOUSE. 





In the present edition it will be seen that I recommend top-dressing to be 
done in the autumn, instead of in spring, as heretofore. I have found this 
to be by far the most eligible season ; for, if done too late in spring, it is 
liable to make the trees shed their blossoms without setting fruit. With 
apricots, this is more particularly likely to occur. Potted trees, when top- 
dressed in autumn, commence at once to form fresh roots, which in spring 
are read}^ to fulfil their office in supporting the young fruit. Very recently, 
some cultivators have recommended trees to be shifted and re-potted annu- 
ally : when they become large, this is a work of much trouble. I can say 
with confidence, there is no occasion to do this. My finest trees have now 
been seven years in the same pots ; they bore last season large crops of 
very fine fruit, and are now full of promise, being covered with blossom- 
buds on short, well-ripened, healthy shoots. 

THE ORCHAKD HOUSE. 

It was, I think, in the year 1849, that, being very fond of figs, I attempted 
to gi'ow them in pots in one of my vineries ; but finding they required more 
room than I could spare, I sought for some method by which I could over- 
come the difficulty. The pots I used, I ought to state, were not placed on 
benches, but on raised borders, for I had adopted the sunken paths and 
raised borders for many years, to avoid the expense of the usual benches of 
wood. The roots made their way through the aperture at the bottom of 
the pots, and the plants thus, even in comparatively small pots, obtained 
enough of vigor to support a crop of fruit. After the crop was gathered, 
the pots were gently turned up on one side, and the roots cut off with a 
knife, water was withheld, and the plants were soon at rest with well- 
ripened shoots. The following spring they were top-dressed with manure, 
and again placed on the border ; but an idea occurred to me to give more 
room for the emission of roots bj'' enlarging the aperture at the bottom of the 
pots : this 1 at once put in practice, with the most favorable results. I then 
reasoned, if figs in pots can be made to bear a crop of fruit by thus giving 
them extra nourishment during the summer, why should not peaches, nec- 
tarines, apricots, vines, plums, cherries, and pears, be managed in the same 
way ? They can be ; and I have now much pleasure in giving the simple 
method by which all these choice fruits can be grown on dwarf bushes in 
pots, with a certainty of a crop every season. I hope to see the day when 
hundreds and thousands of our small gardens will be furnished with cheap 
fruit-tree houses. 

Glass, timbet, and .bricks, are now comparatively cheap ; for sheet-glass 
that, when first brought into notice cost 2s. per foot, can now be bought at 
2d. per foot; so we can build cheap houses, which, without th.e assistance 
of artificial heat, will give us, in average seasons, the climate of the south- 
west of France,— without the liability to injury from spring frosts, from 
which all temperate climates, both in Europe and America, at times suffer 
so severely. Let us now see how nearly glass structures without fire-heat 
will approximate to the climate of France in one of its most temperate dis- 
tricts, — viz., Angers. 

The Chasselas de Fontainebleau grape, our Royal Muscadine, ripens there 
in the open air, in average seasons, on the 25th of August : this is as 
nearly as possible the time when it ripens here under glass without arti- 
ficial heat. The black Hamburg grape ripens at Angers on the 25th of 






THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 



September : in one of my vineries in a warm situation, I have had them 
fully ripe on the 15th without fire-heat. We can thus, at a little expense, 
in our own dear native land, reap the benefits of a warm climate, and enjoy 
its choice fruits, without suffering- by a residence in its oppressive heat. 

I may here mention that my idea of the approximation of the climate of 
the orchard house to that of the south-west of France is not imaginary, for 
some of my gardening friends from thence have said, on entering- it, " Ah ! 
Monsieur Rivers, voila notre climat !" 

I believe that I have more than once described my " glass-roofed shed," 
for I have not ventured to give it too high-sounding a name ; still, as it 
must come into extensive use, a better name may be found expressive of 
this peculiar structure, which is not a vinery, or pinery, or peach-house, — 
these all belong to great and grand gardens, — but a place for many fruits ; 
it may, therefore, I think, without affectation, be called an Orchard House, 
a place requiring but little expense to erect, but little experience and atten- 
tion to manage, and yet giving most agreeable results. To the suburban 
gardener, who has but a small garden, which must be a multum inparvo, — 
to the amateur with plenty of gardening taste and but a limited income, — 
in short, to a numerous class fully capable of enjoying horticultural pleas- 
ures, but with purses not bountifully supplied, the orchard house will, I 
feel assured, be a most agreeable boon. I will, therefore, proceed to give 
such directions as will, I trust, enable any carpenter to build one. There 
are two descriptions of houses calculated for this mode of fruit culture — 
the lean-to and the span-roofed. I shall commence with the former, which 
is perhaps the most simple and most common form of garden structures. 

THE LEAN-TO ORCHARD HOUSE. 

Its length may be from ten feet to one hundred or more, according to 
means and space ; but its breadth and height should be according to the 
following dimensions, unless any improved plan may be suggested which 
will ensure greater advantages at the same cost. 

I will suppose that an orchard house thirty feet long is required. A 
ground plan, thirty feet long and twelve feet six inches wide, should be 
marked out : then six posts of oak or good yellow deal, five inches by three, 
and nine feet six inches in length, or of larch poles sixteen inches in girth, 
cut in two and the flat sides placed outwards, must be firmly fixed two feet 
in the ground : the ground ends before fixing should be charred two feet six 
inches from the bottom, and then have a coat of boiling coal tar, which 
adds much to their durability. They will form the back line of posts, 
standing seven feet six inches in height from the surface of the ground. 
For the front wall six posts of the same thickness, four feet six inches long, 
must be firmly fixed eighteen inches in the ground, so that they stand three 
feet out.* Two posts will be required at each end ; at one end (if only 
one door is wanted) these will form the door-posts. On these posts, both 
at front and back, must be nailed a plate four inches by three, on which the 
rafters are to rest ; the posts are thus arranged in two lines. Now, then, 
for the rafters : these must be fourteen feet long. A nine-inch deal, %. e., a 
deal nine inches wide and three inches thick, will make four, each four and 
a half inches by one and a half, or nearly so. These are light, strong, and 

. * These respective heights of front and back are a matter of choice : they may be exceeded ; 
pfor I find that trees in pots make most vigorous growth. 







THE ORCHAED HOUSE. 



the most economical of all. Instead of "ploughing" the rebate for the 
glass, which is great labor and waste of material, on the upper side of 
each rafter, exactly in the centre, must be nailed a slip of half-inch board, 
half an inch wide ; this will leave half an inch of the rafter on each side 
for the glass to rest on — not too much for glass twenty inches in width. 
The rafters are so far prepared for glazing, but not yet fitted on the plates 
at top and bottom of the projected house : no mortices must be made, but 
the rafter fitted to the back plate by cutting out a piece as in fig. 1, and to 
the front plate as in fig. 2. They must then be strongly nailed to the front 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. 2. 





Top end of Rafter. 



Bottom end of Rafter. 



and back plates, leaving a space between each rebate of twenty inches. 
A piece of three-quarter-inch deal board, six inches wide, should be nailed 
along the top to the end of each rafter, so as to be even with their upper 
edges, and in this should be a groove to receive the upper ends of the 
pieces of glass. At the bottom a piece of board, one inch thick and six 
inches wide, must be let in, by sawing a piece out of each rafter for the 
glass to rest on and to carry ofi" the water. We have thus formed a sloping 
roof seven feet nine inches (with the plate) high at back, and three feet 
three inches high in front. The glazing is now to be thought of. The most 
economical glass is sixteen-ounce British sheet glass, which can be bought 
at 2^d. and Sd. per foot, and the size to be preferred, twenty inches by 
twelve, placing it crosswise, as the rafters are twenty inches asunder. The 
laps should not exceed a quarter of an inch, and they need not be puttied, 
as the ventilation is more free when they are not. I find that scarcely any 
breakage takes place from frost, owing to the large pieces being elastic. 
On and outside the back posts, three-quarter-inch well-seasoned deal boards 
should be nailed. In the back wall thus formed, sliding shutters in grooves, 
three feet by one foot, must be fixed, to act as ventilators — ^two close to the 
roof and two about three feet from the surface of the ground, as in the 
annexed sketch ; if two more be added to the right and left of the lower 
shutters, all the better : in summer it is impossible to give too much air. 

Fig. 3. 

The front and ends 
(except the doorway) 
must have also three- 
quarter -inch boards, 
nailed on outside the 
posts ; one of them, 
the upper one in the 
front, to be on hinges, 
so as to let down the 
whole length of the 
open in hot weather, will 




« U 



Back of Orchard House, a, a, a, a, Sliding Shutters in Grooves. 

house : these, with the back shutters, when all 
.ventilate thoroughly. To add to this, and it is all required in summer 







THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 



the boards will shrink and let in air : a fierce sunlight is thus admitted by 
the large glass, and abundance of air, in which all fruit trees thrive to 
admiration. The boards and rafters should be painted with stone-colored 
paint, which will give the house a very neat appearance. So much for the 
timber and glass ; but when one sees that to walk along the centre of the 
building, which is about four feet nine inches in height, a person must be 
of very diminutive stature, the inquiry arises, how is head-room to be made ? 
Simply by making a trench two feet six inches wide, and fifteen or eighteen 
inches deep in the centre of the ground plan : this will leave a border on 
each side four feet nine inches wide, and form a path at the same time. 
The front border need not be raised, as the trees in two or three years will 
require all the head-room they can have, but the back border should be 
raised about eighteen inches above the surface, supported by the brick or 
boarded edge to the path, — for the sides of the path must be supported 
with boards or four-inch brickwork. It will be found a great improve- 
ment (for which I am indebted to a friend) to divide the back border into 
two terraces, by raising the back half twelve or fourteen inches, building 
a four-inch brick wall, and filling in with earth, so that the back row of 
trees is elevated, and thus escapes any shade given by the front row ; the 
effect also is very good. Now, as every thing depends on these borders — 
for there must be no benches and no shelves — care must be taken to make 
their surface loose and open : loose materials, such as lime rubbish from 
old walls, and road sand, mixed with manure, may be laid on them, about 
four inches deep ; they may then be forked over to about nine inches in 
depth, well mixing the above materials with the soil : you thus have two 
borders not too far from the glass, and on which your orchard will thrive 
admirably. It will appear odd to read about trees thriving on instead of 
in a border ;• but when I explain that this is to be an orchard in pots, it 
will Bot seem so contrary to our usual garden culture. 

It will be seen, I think, by the description I have given, that the lean-to 
orchard house is merely a low greenhouse, with its roof sloping to the south 
or south-west, such as may be seen in many of our small villa gardens ; 

Fig. 4. 




Section of a Lean-to Orchard House. 



only, instead of having a path in the centre and a bench on each side for 

the flower-pots to stand on, it has a sunken path and a border of earth on 

each side, on which fruit trees in pots are to be placed. The foregoing 

Uough section will perhaps convey an idea of this structure and its use. 







THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 



builder's estimate. 
By Mr. Burton, Builder, Sawbridgeworth, given in 1851. 

To . An Estitnate for erecting an Orchard Souse^ 30 feet 6 inches 

long, 12 feet 6 inches toide, 3 feet 3 inches high in fronts and 7 feet 9 
inches at back. 
3 feet oak door sill, 4 by 3. 
64 feet of fir for plates. 

84 feet ditto for end rafters and door posts, &c., 3-|- by 2|. 
309 feet ditto for middle rafters and sill, 4|- by 1-|. 
110 feet ditto for posts, 5 by B. 

30 feet deal for top and bottom rails, 9 by IJ. 
560 feet (super.) ditto for boarding fillets, &c. 
90 feet (super.) fir for sides of path, piles, latch, joints, 
and buttons. 
Painting with anti-corrosion paint, 2 coats. 
18T squares, 16 ounce sheet-glass, putty, and labor. 

£28 5 0* 

By using larch poles instead of squared timber for the posts, a saving 
may be effected ; by being one's own carpenter, a larger saving. By using 
oak for posts, unless Small oak trees can be bought cheaply, £1 15s. must 
be added to the above estimate. 

The foregoing estimate and sketch are for a Lean-to Orchai'd House 
standing by itself : where there is a brick or other wall to serve as a back 
wall, it may be built against it, with a great saving in expense ; but as 
sliding shutters cannot conveniently be let into such walls,. ventilators may 

* The following estimates of the cost of similar houses in America have been kindly furnished 
us by Eichard Morris Smith, architect, of Philadelphia. — 

AMERICAN ESTIMATES. 

Fig. 4. Lean-to, or single-pitch Orchard House : 

570 feet of hemlock scantling at I4C. - $7 12 

680 " poplar for boarding, &c., at 2c. 13 60 

450 feet, 15 by 20 glass, (per 50 feet), f 1 95 17 55 

Labor, putty, &c., &c. - - - -32 00 

Complete, without wash or paint, $70 27 

Boards to be milled but not hand-planed, and finished in two coats stone-wash if desired, — 
but the cost of stone-washing not included in the estimate. From $27 to $33 should be added, 
if the work is hand-finished for paint. About $15 should be deducted if it is built against a 
stable or other wall. 
Fig. 5. Small span, or double-pitch Orchard House : 

456 feet of scantling, (hemlock), at I4C. $5 70 

544 " poplar, at 2c 10 88 

550 " glass, (per 50 feet), $1 95 21 45 

Labor, &c., &c. 31 00 

$69 03 

$25 to $32 should be added, for hand-finish and painting.' 

Figs. 6, 7. Large span, or double-pitch Orchard House : 
Finished in the first manner as above described, about - . . . $120 00 
Paint-finished 160 00 






THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 

be made at the top of the slope of the roof, by having every alternate 
square fixed in a wooden frame, with a hinge at top and a flat piece of iron 
with holes in it suspended to the bottom corner : an iron peg should be 
placed in the rafter to fit into the holes ; with this, the ventilators can be 
raised or sunk at pleasure. 

The most complete house of this kind, built against an old garden wall, 
with a S. W. aspect, is in this neighborhood. The wall is 12 feet high, and 
covered with full grown peach and nectarine trees ; the house is 200 feet 
long and 15 feet wide, 4 feet 6 inches high in front, with front sashes 5 feet 
by 3, on pivots, so as to ventilate thoroughly ; the rafters are 4| by 1^ 
inches, and fixed 20 inches apart; glass, 20 inches by 15, and every alter- 
nate square at the top next the wall is framed, and on hinges openmg 
upwards (these should be arranged so as to open all at once with a line 
and pulley); the path in the centre is 3 feet wide, and on each side, 3 feet 
from the path, is a row of espalier peaches and nectarines ; between the 
front row and the glass are bushes in pots, so that in one house are three 
modes of culture. It is also divided into three seasons by partitions of 
glass, forming three compartments ; two of these are fitted with hot water 
pipes, and one left without, as in a common orchard house. In one house 
forcing is commenced early, so as to have ripe peaches or other fruit m 
May ; the second succeeds it with peaches in June and July ; and the 
third, without heat, gives its crop in August, September, and October : 
peaches and nectarines are thus in perfection from the middle or end of May 
till the end of October. The fruit on the wall is the first to ripen, and is 
very early, owing to the warm aspect. This is the most complete lean-to 
orchard house I have ever seen ; and although 15 feet wide, it can be built 
at a less cost than the narrow upright houses in front of the walls at Trent- 
ham, which are only 5 feet in width. 

The lean-to house, whether against a wall or standing alone with its 
boards for walls, forms a most excellent vinery for grapes not requiring 
fire-heat, such as the Black Hamburg, and the Sweetwater, and Muscadine 
grapes. The vines should be planted inside the front wall, and 2 feet apart, 
trained under the rafters, 14 inches from the glass, and managed on the 
spur system, which is the same as that given for the training of grapes 
in pots. In the south of England, the sorts above named will never fail to 
ripen in this kind of vinery. So much do they love free air, that I have for 
some years opened my ventilators in the middle of July, and have never 
closed them till the end of September. My grapes have invariably been of 
the finest quality. x- j tt 

I now propose to give a sketch and description of a Span-roofed House, a 
little wider and cheaper. A house of this form is more agreeable as a 
promenade, and I think the trees are attended to with more facility. But 
unless placed in a warm sheltered garden, peaches' and nectarines do not 
ripen quite so early in it as in a lean-to house. I think, however, it has a 
more agreeable look, and I must confess a preference to it. The following 
is a section of what I shall call the Small Span-roofed Orchard House. 
Height at sides, 4 feet ; at centre to ridge. 8 feet ; width, 14 feet ; rafters, 
8 feet in length, 3 inches by H, placed 20 inches apart ; posts of oak, 5 
inches by 3*, 5 feet apart ; plates, 3 in'bhes by 2 ; central path, 2 feet 6 
Oak posts of this size, I find on referring to the wooden tombs in the churchyard, last 
50 to 60 years. 






THE OKCHARD HOUSE. 

SMALL SPAN-ROOFED ORCHARD HOUSE. 
Fig. 5. 





Section of the Small Span-roofed Orchard House. 

a, a. Shutters on hinges, 12 inches wide, one on each side. The upper edges should be 1 foot from the eaves. 
6. Ridge board. 
c. Shutter over the door. 

inches M'ide. The borders in this description of house need not be raised, 
but the path may be sunk 2 or 3 inches, and each side sloped so as not to 
crumble into it ; the expense of a brick edging is thus saved. The borders 
should have a dressing of manure and sand, or manure and burnt earth, — 
in short, of any lose materials, — and be well forked over and mixed to 6 or 
9 inches in depth. 

Two rows of trees may be placed on each border, thus — 




3 feet from stem to stem, so that the sun may shine on every leaf. This is 
most essential ; for I have occasionally had some of my peaches deficient 
in flavor, and on examination have always found the trees too much crowded, 
so as to shade each other. In these small span-roofed houses, the trees 
placed as above form a charming avenue, and are looked down upon by the 
cultivator, so that every leaf and fruit is seen. It will add some trifle to 
the expense of building, if the sides, 1 foot or 18 inches from the eaves, 
are of glass, the wooden ventilating shutter being beneath the glazed part. 
The doors and ends may be partially glazed : the extra expense is fully 
repaid by the light and agreeable appearance given by this mode of building. 

The cost of a plain-boarded house, as given me recently by Mr. Rivett, 
Builder, Stratford, Essex, is as follows : — 

A span-roofed orchard house, 30 feet long, 14 feet wide; sides, 4 feet, mid- 
dle to ridge, 8 feet high ; oak posts, 5 inches by 3 ; close boarded, glazed 
with 16-ounce glass, painted twice with anti-corrosion paint : complete, 
£27 10s. 

The small span-roofed house will be found an agreeable and economic 
structure ; but, as large gardens require large houses, I am induced to 
recommend for them the following, which I shall term the 





THE OECHAED HOUSE. 




LARGE SPAN-ROOFED ORCHARD HOUSE. 

My large houses are twenty feet wide, the sides four and a half feet high, 
and nine and a half feet in height to the ridge ; the paths are two and a 
half feet wide ; the brick beds at the sides are four feet wide and fifteen 
inches high, the central bed seven feet wide and eighteen inches high. 
These dimensions may of course be varied at the pleasure of the builder ; 
I give mine exactly as they are. The posts to support the side plates are 
of oak, six inches by four ; they are two and a half feet in the ground, and 
placed four feet apart ; on these are nailed deal boards three-quarters of an 
inch thick, the upper one of which, on each side, one foot in width, is on 
hinges to form the shutters for ventilation ; the rafters are four and a half 
inches by one and a half, and placed twenty inches asunder. (In large 
span-roofed orchard houses used for forcing fruit, and in which artificial 
heat is employed, one or two shutters on hinges at the apex of the roof are 
necessary to let off the heated air in sunny weather ; but I find them quite 
unnecessary in houses without fire-heat). This is the most economical 
method of building large span-roofed orchard houses ; but they may be 
varied, and iron, and brick, and glass, employed at pleasure. One recently 
built at Audley End is, I think, worthy of a short description : its sides are 
brick walls, two feet six inches high ; on these, sashes two feet six inches 
by three feet, are fixed with pivots, so as to admit a large quantity of air ; 
width twenty feet, length ninety feet, height ten feet ; the roof is supported 
by a row of two-inch iron pillars along the centre, about seven feet apart ; 
the central and side beds are twenty .inches high, the paths three feet wide. 
This is really a noble as well as a nobleman's orchard house, and forms a 
healthy and most agreeable promenade. In all orchard houses where 
expense is not heeded, the water should be conducted from the roof into a 
tank pr tanks underground, either outside or inside. Rain water is the 
best of all to syringe or to water the trees with. 

The following is the estimate recently given me by Mr. Rivett for a large 
span-roofed orchard house, built in the plain manner, as given in figs. 6 
and 7 : — 



Fig. 6 {End Elevation.) 



" An orchard house 
thirty feet long, twenty 
feet wide ; sides, five 
feet high ; middle, ten 
feet to ridge ; with 
iron pillars to support 
roof; oak posts, close 
boarded, glazed with 
sixteen - ounce glass, 
painted twice with anti- 
corrosion paint, £45. 
The raised brick bor- 
ders generally built in 
houses of this size, are 





a. Shutters, 1 foot wide, on hinges at ends. 
A . Do. do. on each side. 







THE ORCHAKD HOUSE. 



Fig. 7 (20-feet Section). not included in the es- 

timate." I may add 
that raised borders may- 
be dispensed with if 
half-standard trees are 
cultivated, with stems 
from 2|- to 3|-feet high. 
The tallest trees should 
occupy the centre of 
the house : this kind 

■IE of house, furnished with 

nicely -pruned round- 
headed trees, with 

a. Beds (supported by 4-inch brick walls, built with cement) filled up with straiffht StcmS, WOuld 
compost. T ° IT 

I. Paths, 21 feel wide. " havc a vcry orchard- 

c. Collar beam. These collar beams should be 6 feet apart: iron pillars, J^jJ^g look and thev 
which may be formed with 2-inch gas pipes, in a row along the centre, . ^ ' -^ 

support the roof equally well, and have a lighter and better eflect: they WOUld DC VCry produC- 
should also be 6 feet apart.* tl VP 

It is essential that these large houses should stand endwise N. E. and 
S. W., or nearly so ; for if placed N. W. and S. E., as mine are, owing to the 
peculiarity of the site, the trees in the north-east border are too much 
shaded, and do not ripen their fruit well. I also prefer the same position 
for small span-roofed houses. The height of the above exceeds that which 
I have described in p. 16, but I am inclined to think it more eligible, for it 
is surprising to see what fine and even large trees can be grown in pots. 

A very good gardener has asserted that peaches and nectarines from 
bushes are inferior in flavor to those grown on trellises in peach houses ; 
and that he could produce more fruit in the same space by the latter mode. 
I can easily imagine a partial failure in flavor ; not owing, however, to the 
system, but to the management. The trees alluded to have not had room 
or air enough ; and, consequently, the fruit has not been high flavored. I 
have had Noblesse and other peaches from bushes in a pot standing in the 
full sunshine in one of my houses of the most delicious flavor, while those 
from trees partially shaded were not good. The peach-house trellis system 
is not adapted for small gardens ; one, or at most two trees, will cover the 
roof of a house 20 feet by 12 ; and nothing can be grown under them. 
Besides this, three or four years must elapse before they commence to bear 
to any extent ; and, above all, it will require a good gardener to train and 
prune them, for no amateur could bear the fatigue of constantly keeping 
his eyes to the sun. 

Since the foregoing pages were written, " crystal palaces " have been built. 
I have written for more humble gardens ; but large orchard houses may 
be built on the ridge and furrow system : still it will require caution, for I 
am inclined to think that a ridge and furrow house of great width can never 
be ventilated sufficiently to give flavor to fruit. One of these " palaces " 
with raised borders, well furnished with peaches, nectarines, apricots, figs, 
and even pomegranates, in 20-inch pots, and treated as recommended for 
all other orchard-house trees, would realize an Eastern garden, and bring 

* A lighter and equally eligible mode of supporting the roof is by iron rods (2 inches in cir- 
, cumference) in lieu of collar beams ; these must be supported by perpendicular rods, hooked 
p on to the centre and fastened to the ridge board by screws. 







THE OECHARD HOUSE. 

to mind one of the fruit gardens of Damascus, so vividly described by trav- 
ellers. In short, I know of nothing in gardening more capable of fully 
gratifying the two senses — sight and taste. Thus in great and grand 
places, in lieu of a cheap and simple orchard house, a fruit conservatory, 
heated by hot-water pipes, may be built, and the trees grown in ornamental 
vases placed on elevated beds. A few tea-scented and other delicate roses, 
and spring-flowering bulbs, planted in the borders, would make them gay, 
and have a pretty efl'ect. It must, however, be recollected, that but very 
few of what are called conservatory plants can be planted in a common 
orchard house ; for it is necessary that it should be cold and dry in winter 
to give the fruit trees their rest. If fire-heat is used, it must only be applied 
early in spring — towards the end of February — to force the fruit, if early 
fruit be required, and not in winter, as in greenhouses, to keep out the frost. 
I have, however, reason to believe that orange trees and camellias may be 
planted in the borders with a good chance of success : they should have no 
water after the middle of October, and about the middle of December some 
sticks should be stuck in the ground round each tree, and the space between 
the sticks and the tree filled up with dry hay, and a mat or light woollen 
cloth (Frigi Domo would answer well) wrapped round the sticks. The mat 
or outer cover should be taken ofi" by the end of January, leaving the hay, 
and replaced if severe frost comes on. It would insure success with oranges 
and camellias planted in the borders, if the house could be gently heated 
in severe weather, so as to prevent the temperature falling below 26°; this 
would not stimulate the fruit trees to any extent, and yet would, to a cer- 
tainty, preserve camellia and orange trees. The most severe frost will not 
injure tea-scented roses or bulbs, if the house be kept perfectly dry after 
October. 

It is very possible that some who read this may say, " Why not plant the 
trees in the raised beds, rather than in pots or vases ?" To this I reply, 
They cannot be kept under control, unless they are annually lifted and 
replanted early in November. I had some peach trees which were planted 
in the raised borders of one of my orchard houses : they bore well ; but, in 
spite of root-pruning, they would grow too rapidly. Now, in pots, the size 
and growth of the tree may be regulated with the greatest nicety ; the 
annual root-pruning can be done with much facility, and there is no occa- 
sion to dig and disturb the borders, which must be done to a great extent to 
thoroughly root-prune trees planted in them. Indeed, as far as my expe- 
rience has gone, I can honestly recommend pots, vases, or boxes, for fruit 
trees in orchard houses or fruit conservatories. In the " Gardeners' Maga- 
zine," vol. ii., page 2*18, peach trees ai'e mentioned as having been in pots 
twenty years without being repotted : they had been kept in health and 
fruitfulness only by top-dressing. 

I am, however, inclined to think that peach and nectarine trees, planted 
as pyramids and bushes in orchard houses, would give great satisfaction to 
the " poor gentleman " who is his own gardener, for it is only such that can 
and will fully enter into any new mode of gardening. Peaches, nectarines, 
and apricots thus cultivated should be lifted and replanted, with a little 
rich compost, annually, the last week in October : they should each have, 
when replanted, four or five gallons of water, and the same quantity about 
eek after : no more should be given during the winter. 

Size of Pots. — In potting trees for this description of culture, pots 






THE ORCHAED HOUSE. 



different sizes may be used, according to the taste of the cultivator. If 
large trees for large houses are required, 15-inch pots (15 inches in diame- 
ter and 15 inches deep) will be necessary; for moderate-sized trees, 13-inch 
pots : this on the whole is the most eligible size. For smaller compact 
bushes, 11-inch pots are convenient, as they are not unwieldy, and the trees 
may be made ornaments of the side-board in the dining-room ; and beauti- 
ful objects they are when full of fruit. Miniature, yet fruitful, peach and 
nectarine trees may be grown in very small pots, for I have some not more 
than 9 inches high, in 8-inch pots, full of blossom-buds. Trees of this size 
must not be allowed to bear more than four or five fruit. They are most 
interesting, and I have no doubt will, ere long, be extensively cultivated by 
the curious. These very small fruitful trees are grafted, which seems to make 
them precociously fruitful : peaches and nectarines are generally budded. 

In remote places, where large pots are diflScult to be procured, tubs like 
those used for orange trees, or more properly boxes, may be employed with 
success, and for trees of large size, i. e., when they are from ten to fifteen 
years old, they will probably be absolutely necessaiy. They are easily 
made : boards, one inch thick, either of oak or deal, should be firmly nailed 
together so as to form a box fifteen inches deep and twenty to twenty-four 
inches square ; the bottom should be formed with bars one inch thick, placed 
about half an inch asunder, to allow the roots to penetrate into the borders. 

Apricots. — Apricots in pots are very rarely seen, even in large establish- 
ments ; they are difficult to force, as they will not bear the confined air of 
a forcing house. I remember, some years since, being much struck with 
some apricots cultivated as dwarf trees in the South of France : the trees, 
full of their golden fruit, looked so beautiful, — at the time I wished that our 
climate would allow us to grow them in the same way, I did not then 
think of cheap glass, root-pruning, and pot culture. 

It must always be borne in mind that, without abundance of air and the 
full light of an unshaded roof, — by this I mean that no vines must be 
trained under the glass, — fruit of high flavor cannot be grown ; the trees 
will bear well, but their fruit will be vapid and flavorless. 

The best trees for pot culture are those that have been in pots one or two 
years : if these can be purchased, so" much the better. The next best are 
trees that have been removed and cut down one year in the nursery. If 
neither of the above can be found, " dwarf maiden trees "* will do. Trees 
taken from the open ground must not be potted till the end of October. 
Presuming that potted trees have been procured, they may, early in Octo- 
ber, — if omitted then, in November or December, — be repotted into pots of 
the size selected for this system. I have named 11-inch pots, because they 
are portable, and the trees may then be shifted into large pots as they 
advance in growth ; 11-inch pots will, at any rate, do well to commence 
with. October, November, and December, are the best months for potting 
trees ; they may indeed be potted till March, but then no fruit must be 
expected the first season. If fruit-bearing trees that have been grown in 
pots can be procured, they cannot be potted too early in October. 

I know of no compost better for stone-fruits than two-thirds turf}' loam 
and one-third decomposed manure, to which some road or pit sand may be 
added. The loam should not be sifted ; if it contains a large proportion of 

" This is a term applied by nurserymen to trees one year old from the bud or graft. 






THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 

lumps as h\g as an egg, so much the better. If you examine an 11-inch 
pot, you will find it eight inches across at the bottom, and the aperture 
from one inch to one and a half in diameter. Take a light hammer, and 
enlarge this aperture to five inches in diameter*; then place four or five 
large pieces of broken pots or tiles across, so that they rest on the inside 
ledge left by the hammer, leaving interstices for the free emission of roots : 
on these place some of the most lumpy part of your compost ; then your 
tree, not too deeply, but so that the upper part of its roots is a little be- 
low the rim of the pot : if it has a ball of earth, loosen it ; fill up with com- 
post ; ram the earth down firmly, as you fill, with a stout blunt-pointed 
stick ; place it on the border where it is to grow during the summer ; give 
it two or three gallons of water, and a top-dressing of some manure to lie 
loosely on the surface, and the operation is finished. 

We will suppose that our tree, a nice dwarf bush, with five, six, or seven 
branches,t is potted. It may rest till February, and then be pruned,— a plea- 
sant, simple operation, more easy to show than to tell how to perform. I 
may as well now state that the pruning recommended here for apricots 
will serve for all bush fruit trees under orchard house culture, except 
peaches, nectarines, and figs. Each branch must be shortened with a sharp 
knife to ten inches : these shortened branches will form the foundation of a 
nice regularly-shaped bush. In May each branch will put forth three or 
four shoots : all of these but the topmost one must be pinched off to within 
about two inches of their bases : they will form fruit-bearing spurs ; these 
will continue all through the summer to make fresh shoots, which must 
always be pinched off to a length of two inches. By the end of the first. 
season the leading shoots of the tree will be probably three feet in length, 
and, as well as the spurs, be furnished with blossom-buds. The summer is 
past ; the month of October is with us. Its shoots are ripe, and the tree 
has ceased to grow : it must be put to rest for the winter, by lifting up the 
pot and cutting off closely every root that has made its way into the bor- 
der : it is then ready for its top-dressing, the method of giving which I have 
described further on. 

The second season: — in February, or early in March, the leading shoot 
made the preceding yearj and which ought to be from two to three feet 
long, must be shortened to ten inches, and the young shoots as they push 
forth in summer (all but the leader) be pinched off as in the first season. 
The third season :— as the tree will have increased in size, its leading 
shoots may be shortened to six inches, and as it becomes aged and fruitful, 
annually to four inches, and at last pinched off in summer to two inches, 
as- to make a compact round bush. In the course of time some of the 
shoots in the centre of the tree will require thinning out with the knife, if 
at all crowded. 

The general management of the trees the second year should be as fol- 
lows : — 

February is with us, and, if the season be mild, buds are beginning to 
swell, and flowers to bloom : the trees in your orchard house are, however, 
dry, dusty, and stagnant ; place them in their stations, three feet stem from 

* I now have my pots made with five holes, each an inch and a half in diameter. In remote 
places, where these cannot be procured, the enlarged holes may be used. 
\ t If a tree with only three or four branches is potted, they must be cut into four inches ; 
jland the tree must have a season's growth to form itself. 






THE OKCHARD HOUSE. 




stem, give each of them a small quantity, say a pint, of water, — not, how- 
ever, if the winter is still raging, — let them rest three days, then give them 
a quart each — in short, gradually saturate the earth in the pots, and after- 
wards water them regularly according to the state of the weather. The 
buds, if the weather is mild, will soon begin to swell, and in March, or 
early in April if the season be late, they will put forth their full bloom ; 
and beautiful things they are, for no frost, no storms, will destroy the blos- 
soms. If the weather be sunny, with sharp frosts at night, as is often the 
case in early spring, the shutters, both back and front, may be open all day 
and closed at night ; if a wind-frost and cloudy weather, they may be 
closed day and night ; the ventilation through the joints of the boards will 
then be amply sufficient. With this treatment nearly every blossom will 
set. As soon as the fruit becomes the size of a horse-bean, commence 
syringing the trees morning and evening with soft water, and continue to 
do this all through the summer till the fruit begins to change color before 
ripening. Weak liquid manure may be given once a week during the sum- 
mer. This is, however, almost a matter of choice. My trees grow and 
bear well without it. Guano water, one pound to twenty gallons, is per- 
haps as good as any ; and a good soaking of this once a week is better 
than using it more frequently. AVhile.in their young state, the fruit must 
be thinned, leaving, at first, upon a bush that has been two years in a pot, 
about three dozen ; which, when they attain the size of a small nutmeg, 
must be reduced to two dozen : the third year, a tree, if it has prospered, 
will be able to bring three dozen to maturity ; it is, however, better 
.to have a few finely-grown fruit than many that are small. If some 
of the trees are required to decorate the dessert — and what can be more 
ornamental than an apricot tree full of fruit ? — they must be prepared for 
removal by lifting the pots a week previously, so as to break off the roots 
that have struck into the border : no harm will be done, — it only checks 
their growth a little prematurely ; they must, however, in such cases, be 
brought back to the orchard house after the fruit is gathered, and have 
water till the end of October. 

To sustain trees in health in pots something more must be done than 
allowing their roots to go into the border ; annually, in October, every tree 
should have a top-dressing of rich compost. I have employed, with much 
success, horse-droppings gathered from the roads, and unctuous loam, equal 
parts. The former I have had saturated with night-soil or liquid manure, 
and then exposed to the air for two or three months before mixing it with 
the loam. Some powdered charcoal strewed over this compost will prevent 
any disagreeable smell. Any kind of rotten manure, however, and loam, 
seems to answer well for top-dressing, which is done in the following man- 
ner : take out a portion of the soil, five or six inches in depth, and about four 
inches in width all around the side of the pot, leaving the central mass of 
roots undisturbed (a portion of the mould may, however, be picked out 
from among the mass of fibres with advantage, as fresh food can do them 
no harm) ; then fill in the compost, and ram it firmly down ; keep on filling 
and ramming till it is on a level with the edge of the pot ; place one or two 
inches of loose compost on the surface, as it will settle much during the 
winter ; give one or two good soakings of water ; and then place the trees 
close together, for you will then have more space for winter parsley, let- 
1 tuces, young cauliflowers, and other matters requiring shelter. Water ! 







THE OECHARD HOUSE. 



must be withheld, and the trees suffered to remain dry and completely at 
rest during the winter. 

This treatment may be continued every year without variation, except as 
regards pruning. In removing the trees to their allotted places on the 
borders in spring, I have lately found it beneficial to take out about two 
shovelfuls of earth on the place where the pot is to stand, and replace it 
with the same quantity of the compost used for top-dressing : the tree is 
thus fed from above and below. It will be necessary in very dry winters 
to watch the trees to see if their shoots shrivel ; if so, they must have a 
small quantity of water, but not in severe frost ; and if the winter be ex- 
cessively severe, to " make assurance doubly sure," some dry hay or litter 
may be laid on and around the pots : the dry state of the soil will, however, 
as far as my experience has gone, perfectly resist the effects of frost. 

The best implement for top-dressing is a piece of iron rod an inch and a 
half in circumference and nine inches long, flattened at the end, with a 
handle of wood five inches long, like the annexed figure. 



Now, let us see what we may expect from this treatment. The apricot, 
the peach, and nectarine, as is well known, all come from the East. "We 
will take Persia or Armenia. The winter there is dr}'^ and very severe ; the 
spring dry, with hot sun and piercing wind, just when peaches and apricots 
are in full bloom, and yet how they succeed 1 Let any one go into an 
orchard house when we have our usual March weather : the wind will 
whistle through it, and the climate will be dry, sunny, and bracing ; the 
blossoms, under these circumstances, will all set. Unfortunately, we can- 
not command sunshine enough to carry us along, to make our fruit ripen in 
May and June, as in warmer climates ; we must, therefore, wait patiently, 
for our orchard house climate is slow but sure in its operations. If the 
above dii-ections are followed, Eastern nature is imitated as closely as our 
cloudy skies permit. The trees bloom in a dry, airy place ; they pass 
through a comparatively dry, warm summer ; they are, like all trees natives 
of dry climates, early in a state of perfect rest, which is continued all 
through the winter, and thus they form healthy shoots and well-developed 
blossom-buds. Nothing in culture can be more perfect, and all is so simple, 
that, knowing as I do, with what facility it is done, I feel ashamed of the 
many words I have used in describing it. 

It will be seen that I have, to carry out this system, recommended houses 
of wood and glass ; those, however, who prefer brick to wooden walls, may 
have them, as any greenhouse may be made into an orchard house, by 
merely lowering the roof to the height given in page 10*, sinking the path- 
way, and having sliding shutters, back and front. The grand essentials 
are, low roof, borders instead of benches, and constant ventilation, more or 
less, according to the state of the weather, through the shutters ; but in 
houses with brick walls there will not be that constant, gentle percolation 
of air which there is through boarded houses, and which seems so highly 
favorable to the well-being of stone-fruits. 

* It must always be borne in-mind, that a low roof, so that the trees are not too far from the 
\ glass, is most essential. My trees, seven years old, nearly touch it, — the nearer the glass the , 
ifiner the fruit. 






THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 

I have, I find, omitted to state the number of trees that may be grown in 
a given space. The trees should be placed in the borders, back and front, 
three feet apart, stem from stem. A house «f the dimensions given in p. 12 
will thus hold from twenty-five to thirty trees. Thirty trees will give sixty 
dozen and upwards of fruit, when in full bearing. A small bush of the Pit- 
maston orange-nectarine, four years old, produced, one season, four dozen of 
fruit, and brought them all to perfection ; still this is too many, as some of 
the fruit were small. I mention this merely to show what can and may be 
done in this very interesting mode of cultivation, which, to sum up, is as 
follows : annual top-dressing, annual summer pruning by pinching, autumnal 
or spring pruning, and root-pruning. 

There are, I well know, some amateur as well as professional gardeners 
who object to the pot culture of apricots ; to such I can with confidence 
recommend planting of apricot trees in the borders, and lifting and replant- 
ing them biennially, about the end of October, with a fcAV shovelfuls of the 
potting compost : they soon form compact and most fruitful bushes : I have 
some trees under this treatment remarkable for their healthy and sturdy 
growth. 

The season of that very fine sort, the Peach-Apricot, may be prolonged 
to a great extent ; it generally ripens in the orchard house about the first 
week in August, but by the following simple method it may be had in per- 
fection till the middle of October. The end of June some trees full of fruit 
should be selected, and those that are to be very late should be placed 
under a north wall till the first week in September, and then removed to 
the orchard house to ripen their fruit. Those that are to ripen in Sep- 
tember should be placed in a sunny, exposed place, till the end of August, 
and then be removed to the orchard house. The fruit from those trees that 
are much retarded will not always prove good, unless the weather be fine 
and warm ; but that from trees set out of doors in a sunny place and then 
ripened in the house will be most excellent. 

Half-standard apricots may be made charming ornamental trees for the 
summer decoration of the flower garden ; for this purpose trees with nice 
straight stems about three feet in height should be selected, and planted in 
pots or tubs. They should be grown in the orchard house, and about the 
middle of July be removed to the lawn or any part of the garden where 
such trees would be desirable. They can be pruned into round heads and 
employed for summer ornaments, just as orange trees are in many gardens : 
they will be found equally ornamental and more useful, because their fruit 
is valuable. 

The most desirable sorts of apricots for pot culture are : the Eed Mascu- 
line, which ripens in June ; the Lai'ge Early in July ; St. Ambroise, which 
follows very closely ; the Kaisha ; the Blenheim ; the Eoyal ; and the 
Peach-Apricot, like the Moor Park, but larger and a better bearer. These 
are placed as nearl}'' as possible in the order of their ripening, and give a 
good succession. 

They will come in nearly at the same season as those on walls ; for it 
must be understood that fruits in thoroughly ventilated orchard houses are 
not much forwarded unless the season happens to be very sunny. It is not 
an early but a certain crop that must be expected. I have not named any 
later kind than the Peach-Apricot because it is so easily retarded, and is 
|j always of the highest excellence ; it is also the most abundant bearer of all. ! 







THE ORCHARD HOUSE 



Peaches and Nectarines. 
Few fruit trees give more 
satisfaction in the orchard 
house than a choice selec- 
tion of peaches and nec- 
tarines : when in blossom, 
in early spring, the trees 
are so fresh and beautiful ; 
they are so exceedingly 
prolific ; and in autumn, 
what fruit can vie in beauty N^^ 
with a ripe peach or nee- J^ 
tarine ? and what to the '^'^ 
lover of fruit trees can be 
more gratifying than to 
see his sideboard or dining- 
table decorated with peach- 
bushes in pots, studded 
with their lovely and per- 
fectly ripened fruit ? 

If bushes of only a mod- 
erate size are required, 
11 -inch pots, as recom- 
mended for apricots, may 
be used. It is surpris- 
ing to see what vigorous 
growth, and what fine fruit, 
peach-trees in 11-incli pots 
give ; for, owing to the 
compost being rammed 
♦ down, a large quantity of 
nutriment is given in a — 

small SDace I may as An Slmge Nectarine Tree, three years oW, from a Daguerreotype. 

well, however, state, once for all, and for all descriptions of fruits, that, if 
fewer and larger trees are required, larger pots may be employed ; thus 
13, 15, or 18-inch pots may be used with equal success, by having numer- 
ous apertures at the bottom, allowing the emission of roots during the sum- 
mer, root-pruning, and putting the tree to rest during the winter. A peach 
or nectarine-tree may thus, in two or three years, be made capable of bear- 
ing many dozens of fruit ; but I must confess that my taste inclines to 
small prolific trees only because one can have greater variety-in a small 
space ; and small trees are pretty, are easily looked over, so that each leaf 
and bud, each blossom and fruit is known. 

If peach-trees, already in pots, and in a bearing state, can be purchased, 
so much the better, for then a year is saved ; but as such are more expen- 
sive than either "maiden" or "cut-down" trees, the cost of which is gener- 
ally about \s. Qd. to 2s, 6d. each, these had better be purchased. 1 may 
here state that " cut down" trees are two years old, and if nice healthy 
trees of this description, with fully ripened shoots, can be found, they are 
better than "maiden" trees. But as they are not often to be met with, 








THE ORCHAED HOUSE. 





I will first give the treatment required by one-year-old, or " maiden " 
trees. 

These have one shoot, more or less vigorous, which should be well fur- 
nished with buds towards its base. This shoot must be cut clean off with 
a sharp knife, at the seventh bud from its base, and the tree then potted in 
the same compost recommended for apricots, in the same sized pots, and at 
the same season, being towards the end of October, or early in November.* 
The following summer every bud will, or ought to, produce a shoot. If 
there are seven shoots, the tree is formed for the season : they need not 
have their tops pinched off, but will merely require the laterals (small side 
shoots) pinched off to within two buds of their bases as soon as they are 
four inches long. This will induce the ripening of the shoots, so that by 
the end of the summer they will be full of blossom buds. At the end of 
August the point of each shoot should be pinched off, and they will then 
only require the annual pruning, either in autumn or spring, for which 
directions are given below. If the tree puts forth a fewer number of 
shoots than seven, the tops of all should be pinched off early in June ; each 
shoot will then put forth three or more young shoots ; all that are not 
required to form the tree must be pinched off in the same way as laterals, 
leaving seven, or, if the tree be vigorous, nine shoots to each tree. These 
trifling manipulations are easy to do, but difficult to describe : so to make 
the matter as clear as possible, let us place a young tree before us early in 
June, with five branches, each twelve inches in length ; then let us, with a 
sharp penknife, shorten each branch to nine inches ; then, at the end of 
June, let us take the same tree in hand, and we shall find that each short- 
ened branch has put forth two or three young shoots ; we must pinch them 
so as to leave on four branches two, and on one only one, making nine 
shoots, which as they grow should have their laterals pinched off regularly ; 
they will then make vigorous trees in one summer, and form abundance of 
blossom-buds : no other pruning is necessary the first season ; and if abun- 
dant ventilation and syringing daily, as recommended for apricots, have 
been attended to, the fruit buds will, towards the end of August, begin to 
be fully developed. The experienced gardener can at once distinguish 
them : such a person may prune his trees early in October. Let me endeav- 
or to tell how to distinguish a fruit-bud, which, by the way, is the only 
bud to prune down to. 

Well, then, generally, — or '"'general always," as a foreign friend expresses 
it, when he wishes to say anything that invariably takes place, — towards the 
base of each of your seven or nine shoots, you will find four or five pointed 
single buds, covered with their brown coat ; these are leaf-buds ; next to 
these, and higher up the shoots, are triple buds, a plump silver-coated one 
on each side, and a thin one in the centre. These plump silvery buds are 
blossom-buds, and the central one a leaf-bud, which produces a shoot, so 
necessary to tlie well-being of the blossom-buds, that without it they would 
be abortive. Be sure to have on each shoot, if possible, nine to twelve of 
these triple buds, and cut off the shoot close to one of them ; if this cannot 
be found at the proper place, so as to be able to form the foundation of a 
nice, regularly-shaped, bush-like tree, cut off the shoot at a leaf-bud. If 
the trees are pruned in autumn, the buds are difficult to distinguish ; it 

* This season is recommended, but it may be departed from ; for my peaches and nectar- 
ines are sometimes not potted till March, yet they make fine growth. 




will, therefore, be better for the beginner not to prune his peach and nec- 
tarine-trees till February or early in March, when every bud will plainly 
show its character, — the blossom-buds by that time will have opened their 
silvery coat, and the bright pink will be peeping out. If the shoot be cut 
off at a single blossom-bud, it will die down to the next leaf-bud ; this must 
therefore be carefully avoided. 

Let us now proceed with the culture of our maiden tree. A season has 
passed : it is early spring, say the middle of February, and our tree, with 
its nine branches of the last summer's growth, is before us ; three of these 
should be cut down to within five buds of their bases, to give a supply of 
young shoots for the succeeding year, and six should be cut down so as to 
leave on each branch ten or twelve triple buds. These are the fruit-bear- 
ing branches for the present season : and so it must be every year ; a few 
branches, say one-third, must be cut in closely on opposite sides of the tree 
to give young shoots, and the remainder left as above to bear fruit. Those 
shoots that have borne fruit will often require to be cut out, to make the 
tree dwarf and prevent its becoming naked, as the spurs die after bearing, 
unlike those of the apricot and plum, which continue to bear fruit for many 
years. Much will depend upon the sort cultivated, and the vigor of the 
tree : one thing must be borne in mind, — do not let the tree become bare of 
young shoots towards its base, and tall and straggling. If pruned in 
spring, the nature of every bud may be seen, and the tree formed, by the 
proper use of the knife, into a fruitful, beautiful bush.* From twelve to 
fifteen leading shoots should be left in summer pruning on each tree when 
in a full-bearing state. 

I have thus endeavored to follow the " maiden " tree to its fruiting state. 
The " cut-down " tree, which should have four or five branches, should be 
potted in autumn and pruned in early spring : each branch must be short- 
ened to six inches ; these will put forth numerous young shoots, which in 
June should be thinned out with a sharp knife, leaving nine or more shoots 
to be pruned the following spring, as above directed. If trees in pots 
three or four years old in bearing state can be purchased, it is a saving of 
time, for if they are potted before Christmas, a crop of fruit may be ex- 
pected the ensuing summer ; in such trees, the shoots intended to bear 
fruit, and covered with triple blossom-buds, may be shortened to ten buds, 
and those which are to make young shoots for the next year's bearing- 
should be shortened to five buds. 

I think I may now add with safety, having (this day, February 14, 1856) 
just pruned my trees for the sixth year, that but little anxiety need be felt 
by the beginner, for when a peach-tree has been in a pot in an orchard house 
for two years it loill bear, prune it how you will. All that seems to be requir- 
ed is to make the tree symmetrical and prevent its bearing- too bountifully, for 
it must be borne in mind that fruit from a tree overloaded, whether under 
glass or in the open air, is never of a fine flavor. Peaches, pears, plums, 
apples, and indeed all descriptions of fruit, suffer in flavor to an extent 
scarcely thought of, if the tree be suffered to bejir too many. It is better 
to have one dozen of peaches large and of fine flavor, than two dozen small 




* When tlie trees are in a bearing state, many short, spur-like shoots, from four to six inches 
long, will be made every season on the stem and towards the base of the principal branches. 
These will be generally covered with single blossom-buds and a terminal leaf-bud : they may be 
removed if too much crowded, hut never shortened. 








THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 




and inferior ; besides this, a tree suffered to bear too large a crop will be 
sure to fail the following season. 

I need not repeat here the directions for the general management I have 
given for apricots : exactly the same is required for peaches and nectar- 
ines, which may be grown with them ; the same top-dressing, liquid ma- 
nuring, syringing, root-pruning, and winter management. 

Peaches and nectarines, either in the open air or under glass, are inclined 
to grow too vigorously : pot culture here gives a great advantage ; the 
trees should be lifted, so as to break off all the roots that are entering the 
border from the apertures at the bottom of the pot ; this operation should 
be performed once a week, commencing the second week in June, and con- 
tinued till the end of July ; they may then be suffered to make roots into 
the border till the fruit is gathered. By this treatment the trees become 
sturdy and short-jointed ; i. e., very short spaces will be found between the 
buds. Trees that have been from five to seven years in pots will require 
abundance of water daily, in summer, as the pots become full of roots, and 
absorb a large quantity. 

There is a matter of importance, in the culture of peaches and nectar- 
ines, to which I beg the reader's special attention, although it is a repeti- 
tion, and that is free ventilation. In the warmer parts of England, and 
more particularly in Surrej', I have heard of two or three failures in grow- 
ing peaches and nectarines in orchard houses, owing entirely to the attacks 
of the red spider, brought on by the unskilful management of servants, 
calling themselves gardeners, who would persist in shutting up their houses 
at four o'clock in the afternoon, in hot weather, and not opening them till 
nine in the morning ; the poor trees were thus suffocated, and so enfeebled 
as not to be able to resist the attacks of this most persevering and insidious 
enemy. Now let me advise any one who has such a servant, to open all 
the shutters about the first week in July, and have them nailed so that they 
cannot be closed ; they may remain so till the first of September. If the 
trees are regularly syringed, no red spider will make its appearance, and 
the fruit will be of much finer flavor for this constant and free ventilation. 
The usual and proper mode of ventilation is to have the shutters open by 
day all through the spring and early summer months, and open night and 
day as soon as the peaches begin to color, unless the house be in an exposed 
place, and the weather cold and windy, then they should be only partially 
open. But few gardeners have the courage to give air enough to orchard 
houses and vineries : in mine, without fire-heat, abundance of air is given 
night and day, from the middle of July till the grapes are ripe. 

A very simple and agreeable method of retarding such mid-season peaches 
as the Noblesse< Royal George, and Grosse Mignonne, and all mid-season 
nectarines, may be practised as follows : — Remove the trees from the 
orchard house to the open air the end of July (if the season is early, and 
the house is in a warm situation, a week earlier); place them in some warm 
sheltered place, or in front of a south or south-west wall, about two feet 
from it. In a few days both peaches and nectarines change to a deep crim- 
son, and if the weather is sunny, their flavor will be very vinous and 
piquant. Under this treatment, such sorts as I have named above will 
ripen by the end of September, or later, according to the state of the 
f weather. By this method, the season of our fine melting peaches and nec- 
/,tarines may be much prolonged, and, in cases where the absence of a family' 








THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 



may require it, the whole crop of an orchard house can be retarded. Half 
standard peaches and nectarines with nice round heads, may be used as 
ornamental trees in the same way as recommended for apricots. 

Within these few years a method of growing peach-trees against walls 
has been brought into notice in France. This is called training " en cordon 
oblique," and is carried out by planting against walls, maiden trees twenty 
inches or two feet apart at an " angle of forty-five degrees." The lateral 
shoots are shortened in closely, and rigid summer pinching is practised, so 
that a wall is soon completely covered with short fruit-bearing shoots. In 
warm climates and in dry soils this method has been found to answer very 
well, but has been objected to in climates and soils of a contrary descrip- 
tion, as the vigor of the trees is not restrained enough by the most severe 
summer pinching. The French gardeners do not know, or will not practise, 
root-pruning or annual removal, which would doubtless make these very 
pretty trees abundantly fruitful. The annexed is a figure of one of these 
oblique trees, from the work on pruning by M. Hardy. 

Fig. 10. 

I now propose a modifi- 
cation of this mode of cul- 
ture for the orchard house, 
by forming peach and nec- 
tarine-trees into close com- 
pact pyramids like an up- 
right cypress, and annex a 
figure (fig.ll) of a maiden 
tree potted and pruned. For 
this purpose maiden trees 
with straight stems and 
well furnished with lateral 
shoots should be selected, 
and planted in 11-inch pots. 
They should not be more 
than from thi-ee and a half 
to four feet high ; if more, 
their tops may be cut off 

to that height. Each late- 

ral shoot should be cut in- "*=^^ 

to two buds ; these and the ^ ^^^'^^ "^'^^ ^''^^"^"^ " ^^^ '^°'^°'^ oWique." 

buds in the stem will give numerous shoots : during the whole of the 

summer every shoot must have its point pinched off as soon as it has 

made six leaves ; those that are weak and form their terminal bud at the 

fifth leaf need not be shortened. This incessant summer pinching of the 

shoots of a potted tree, in the climate of the orchard house, will, in one 

season, form a compact, cypress-like tree, crowded with short fruit-spurs. 

The second season these should be thinned out iu February, so as to leave 

them as nearly as possible at regular distances, and in summer the fruit 

should be thinned and the shoots pinched as in the first season. 

A close fruitful pyramid will thus be formed, on which the fruit will be 
fully exposed to the sun and air. A great number of trees may in this way 
be grown in a small space, and they will form beautiful objects of high cul- 
ture. I have recently planted some trees of this description in one of the : 




7^ 




borders of an orchard house, and intend to manage them after the method I 
have given as regards summer pinching ; and lifting and replanting them 
every year early in November. A plantation of these pyramids, in a small 
span-roofed house, will, I am certain, prove most interesting and profitable. 
The peach and nectarine season may be much prolonged by a judicious 
selection of varieties. The earliest peach is the Red Nutmeg, which will 
ripen in July (it is small, but very nice) ; next the Early Anne and the 
Early York, which ripen immediately after it ; then the Acton Scot ; the 
Early Grosse Mignonne ; the Grosse Mignonne ; the Noblesse ; the Royal 
George ; the Galande ; the Reine des Vergers, a beautiful and hardy new 
peach ; the Barrington ; the Chancellor ; the Walburton Admirable, a most 
admirable new variety ; and the Late Admirable, of which the Teton de 
Venus and Bourdine are excellent varieties : these ripen nearly in succes- 
sion, are all melting peaches, and give their fruit from July till the middle 
of October. I am also inclined to think, that with the large " Pavies " or 
clingstone peaches of France, such as the Pavie de Pompone, and the Cath- 
erine, the peach season may be prolonged till the middle or end of Novem- 
FiG. 11. ber. These very late peaches, on walls in moist cli- 

mates, are quite worthless ; but in the dry climate of 
the orchard house, although not high flavored, they 
serve to prolong the peach season. They should be 
cut in slices and served with wine and sugar, as in 
France. 

A selection of nectarines may include the following : 
— Fairchild's Early, small, but the earliest ; Hunt's 
Tawny ; Elruge ; Hardwicke Seedling ; Pitmaston 
Orange, very beautiful and very good ; Violette Ha- 
tive ; New White ; Roman ; Early Newington ; and 
Late Melting. 

There is a race of nectarines from Syria well worthy 
of especial culture ; the best of these is the Stanwick 
and seedlings raised from it. Many gardeners have 
failed in its culture, finding it crack, and drop off in 
stoning. It is easily cultivated in pots, but requires 
an orchard house gently heated : the best of houses 
for the culture of this fine fruit is the small span- 
roofed with boards, and heated by one 4-inch hot-water 
pipe round the house. As soon as the trees are in 
blossom in April, the fire may be lighted every morn- 
ing at six and kept up till five in the afternoon all 
through May, giving abundance of air in the daj'-, and 
a portion b}'- night, although the crevices of the boards 
will admit some. In June and July the fire ma}'- be 
lighted at six in the morning, and suffered to go out 
at mid-day ; the trees must be S3''ringed regularly. 
By this treatment the fruit will ripen in the South of 
A Maiden Peach-Tree pruned to England in August, be clcar, free from cracks, and 
form a close Pyramid. the most perfect and delicious of all nectarines; its 
flavor is most peculiarly gratifying, and I have no hesitation in saying 
that no fruit can be imagined more exquisite in flavor. 

Plums. — I do not think that the good qualities of this fruit are as yet 







THE OECHARD HOUSE. 




half appreciated. It is in season from July to November ; it is excellent 
for preserves and for compotes. And then how delicious are many of its 
varieties as dessert fruit ! For the orchard house it is also well adapted ; 
the early varieties ripen very early ; the late kinds may be kept in muslin 
bags all through November ; they shrivel in the dry climate, and are per- 
fectly delicious. I have had some of Coe's Golden Drop in muslin bags on 
the trees, partaking of the flavor of those called " French plums," but richer 
and more agreeable. 

Plums for potting may be grafted on the sloe (Prunus spinosa), but they 
are equally prolific when grafted on the plum-stock : if they have been 
removed the year previously to potting, they will be full of bloom-buds, 
and will bear a good crop the first season ; if they can be procured already 
established in pots, the crop will be better and the fruit larger. The same 
compost and the same treatment recommended for apricots will do for 
plums ; the same potting, pinching, and pruning, so as to make the trees 
nicel}'^ shaped, compact, and dwarf, is all that is necessary. 

In selecting varieties some care is required, so as to have plums all 
through the summer and autumn. The very early and very late plums here 
in the South of England seem to ripen in the orchard house without any 
loss of flavor ; but the mid-season plums, such as the Mamelonnee, Green 
Gage, De Montfort, and, I may add, the Jefferson, are, I think, improved in 
flavor by being ripened in the open air. For this purpose the trees should 
be lifted, so as to break off their young roots, a week previously, and then 
removed to some warm and sheltered situation. Their flavor is, T think, 
improved by this treatment ; and their removal will give more room to the 
peaches and nectarines. In wet and moist climates, where the Green Gage 
ripens with difficulty, they must remain under glass all the summer. 

And now to our selection. For the first, take the Earlj' Favorite and 
Early Prolific, — two most excellent sorts, which ripen about the middle of 
July, nearly as soon as the Jaune Hative, a very early, but veiy inferior, 
plum ; next in succession comes the Saint Etienne ; then the De Montfort ; 
the Denniston's Superb, and the Mamelonnee — early green-gage-like plums ; 
the Green Gage ; the Jefferson,— rich and delicious it is ; Purple Gage ; 
Keine Claude de Bavay ; Coe's Golden Drop ; Ickworth Imperatrice ; St. 
Martin's Quetsche ; Coe's Late Red, and the Late Black Orleans ; — all these 
are excellent, and ripen nearly in succession as I have placed them. A 
very nice way of keeping the autumn plums, or, indeed, those that ripen in 
summer, from wasps and flies, is to form the trees into compact bushes, 
which may be enclosed, when bearing fruit, in a muslin bag, — any common 
cheap muslin will do, — tying it tightly round the stem of the tree, so as to 
exclude the ants, which are great pests in dry and pleasant places. I have 
only to remark that the plum in orchard houses will to a certainty always 
give abundant crops, and as certainly ripen its fruit : in short, its culture 
will be sure to give satisfaction to those who love gardening. 

After some j^-ears of experience, I have found the plum so easily grown 
in pots, that I feel a new era in their cultivation has arrived. It is well 
known that plum-trees in our climate bloom so early in spring as to be much 
injured by our spring frosts : it may safely be asserted that a fair crop of 
Green Gages, away from walls, is realized but three j^ears out of seven, 
even in the South of England, but two years out of seven in the Midland 
Counties, and seldom or never in Yorkshire. Now I propose that, for those 








THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 

who wish to grow a regular and certain crop of plums without incurring 
a heavy expense, rough-built lean-to orchard houses should be erected in 
some out-of-the-way corner of the premises, consisting of larch poles, I'ough 
half-inch boards, with two or three sliding shutters for ventilation, — in *^ 
fact, merely a glass-roofed shed on purpose for protecting plum-trees in 
pots while in blossom and setting their fruit. It is surprising with what 
vigor and beauty plum-trees blossom even in the rudest glass struc- 
ture, and as the trees need not remain in the house longer than the end of 
the first week in June, — for then all danger of severe spring frosts is over, 
— they may be placed so close together, that a house twenty feet by twelve, 
with a path in its centre, will hold ninety-six trees, forty-eight on each bor- 
der. The trees may be planted in 13 or 15-inch pots, and treated exactly 
as other orchard-house trees ; with this difference, — all the trees having 
young fruit should be removed from the house in June, and placed in rows 
or otherwise in the garden, to ripen their fruit in the open air.* The pots 
may be plunged in the soil one-third of their depth, but not more ; for if 
the roots are too cold, the fruit will suffer in flavor, and if the soil be wet 
and cold, it should be drained or made porous, so that the water passes 
from the pots rapidly, and the top-dressing of manure must be most abun- 
dant. As a matter of course, the very late plums must be ripened under 
glass ; but all those varieties that ripen in the open air before the end of 
September may be there grown to great perfection, and regular annual 
crops insured, if care is taken to thin the fruit properly. If too large a 
crop is extorted, the tree will have a year's rest. It is quite astonishing 
how prolific these bushes become in a few years ; and by merely pinching 
off the ends of exuberant shoots — which should be done about the end of 
June — to within three or four inches of their bases, they soon form them- 
selves into compact round-headed trees, quite as ornamental as orange-trees 
in pots and tubs, and far more gratifying as regards utility ; for one would 
not like to place a dish of English oranges — cultivated as they are at pres- 
ent — before one's friends, but English Green Gages are always acceptable. 

The best varieties for this extended mode of plum cultivation in pots, are 
the Early Prolific ; De Montfort ; Denniston's Superb ; Green Gage ; Ange- 
lina Burdett ; Woolston Black Gage ; Kirke's ; Guthrie's Late Green ; 
Reine Claude de Bavay ; Purple Gage ; and, above all, the JeflFerson, one 
of the most beautiful and delicious of plums. These are for the dessert ; 
but as in some climates it may be necessary to grow plums in the same 
way for culinary purposes, I may as well give the names of a few good 
kitchen plums : such are the Victoi-ia and Autumn Compote, both large and 
excellent, ripening in succession ; the Diamond ; the Early Orleans ; White 
Magnum Bonum ; and Prince Englebert. The trees must all be removed to 
the orchard house the last week in October, top-dressed and watered, and 
then kept dry all winter. As the earth of these out-of-doors orchard-house 
trees becomes very firm by the heavy rains of summer, an iron pick, to take 
out the mould in spring, will be found very useful. I give a sketch in p. 
19 of one which I have had made by the village smith. As plums are 
coarse feeders, I take the surface earth out to the depth of six inches at the 
side of the pot, sloping upwards to the stem, so as to be able to give them 
a largo quantity of fresh compost. 

* There might be danger in this practice in America, from the curculio, without the muslin 
bag.— Pub. 







THE ORCHAED HOUSE. 

To those who wish to grow plums under glass in large quantities, I beg 
to point out a very simple mode of culture, — viz., planting a house with 
bushes or pyramids, and removing them biennially to check their growth : 
one of our most skilful gardeners, Mr. Monroe, grows them in this manner, 
and finds that, after two or three years, owing to the trees being every sea- 
son loaded with fruit, they do not require removal, as they grow very slowly. 

Cherries. — The Cerasus Mahaleb, Bois de Sainte Lucie, or Perfumed 
Cherry, has been long employed on the Continent as a stock for dwarf 
cherries ; it will grow well in calcareous and shallow soils, unfavorable to 
the common cherry-stocks. It is a very good stock for trees for potting ; 
when grafted or budded on it, they form beautiful dwarf bushes : the May 
Duke and Morello cherries, of which there are several varieties, do much 
better on it than the Bigarreaus and Hearts, which are apt to gum, and grow 
to.o rapidly in proportion to the stock. Cherries are well known to be diBfi- 
cult to force, or to grow under glass : the blossoms generally fall without 
setting their fruit ; but in our well-ventilated orchard houses, this is not the 
case. 

Their potting, compost, and treatment may be exactly the same as that 
recommended for apricots : the tree should be formed into a nicely-shaped 
bush, with regular divergent branches ; on each branch the shoots, all but 
one leader, must be pinched back in June to a spur of about two inches, 
and the leading shoot shortened in August to about six inches, till the tree 
has attained the size desired ; the leader may then be shortened to one inch 
annually, and the size of the tree, if it becomes too bulky, reduced by the 
knife. The best early cherries for the orchard house are, the May Duke, the 
Archduke, the Belle de Choisy, and the Royal Duke,— which ripen in suc- 
cession. Then of the Heart Cherries and Bigarreaus, the very earliest of 
all is the Belle d'Orleans ; then the Early Purple Guigne ; Knight's Early 
Black ; the Black Eagle ; Elton ; Bigarreau Napoleon ; the Bigarreau ; 
and the Florence : I have placed them as nearly as possible in the order of 
their ripening. Of late cherries of the Morello tribe, which succeed adnair- 
ably as dwarf bushes, there are Peine Hortense, a large and delicious 
sweet cherry ; the Late Duke, also sweet, and of the highest excellence ; 
Griotte de Chaux ; Coe's Late Carnation, a most delicious late cherry ; 
Belle Magnifique, a very large Morello-like cherry, but not very acid ; and 
the Morello, which, when fully ripe, and black, in September, is not to be 
despised as a dessert fruit. All these may be made to supply the dessert 
through August, September, and, indeed, great part of October, by enclos- 
ing each bush in a muslin bag, tied tightly round the stem near the 
ground : the dry air preserves them from mould, and the warm climate 
gives them a flavor very superior to that of late cherries cultivated in any 
other mode. Cherries under glass are very liable to the attacks of the 
black aphis. There are two remedies for this pest : brushing the shoots,^ as 
directed in p. 44 ; dipping them in strong tobacco water ; or covering 
the bush with a sheet of tiffany or calico, and placing ignited tobacco paper 
in a small flower-pot under it, so that the draught through the aperture at 
bottom is open. This a good method of fumigation. 

In wooded districts it is almost impossible to taste cherries fully ripe, so 
numerous and' destructive are birds : in such places cheap orchard houses 
might be built for their sole culture, in which the ventilators should be kept 
constantly open as soon as the fruit begins to color, but the openings must 






THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 

be covered with netting to keep out their winged enemies. They grow 
remarkably well in pots, and in a few years become most fruitful, every 
spur giving a bunch of blossoms ; nothing can be imagined more cheerful 
than a cherry orchard house when the trees are in full bloom in April and 
May. 

Figs. — The fig is not a general favorite ; but to those who like them, as I 
confess I do, their cultivation in the orchard house is interesting and most 
simple. 

Figs may be planted in the compost already recommended, and in pots 
of the same size, top-dressed in spring, syringed in summer, and put to rest 
in autumn, and treated exactly as other fruits. Although fig-trees against 
walls require protection from the frost, — which would otherwise destroy the 
young fruit that is the first to ripen in early summer, — yet under glass, 
with the mould perfectly drj^, and the shoots thoroughly ripened, they will 
be uninjured by the most severe cold. If a well-formed bush cannot be 
procured, the tree must be cut down the first season to within nine inches 
of its base ; the shoots, when they make their appearance, thinned out to 
five : when these are about a foot in length, pinch off the end from four, 
leaving the central shoot for a fortnight or so to grow longer ; then pinch 
ofi" its end in the same manner. Your bush will be formed, but you must 
not expect any fruit the first season. In succeeding seasons it must be 
pruned in the same manner that you would a bearing tree purchased and 
placed at once in the house : i. e., in May or the beginning of June, as soon 
as the young shoots have made five leaves, pinch out the terminal bud of 
each : they will then give fruit for a second crop, the first crop having been' 
produced by the shoots of the preceding year. And to keep your trees as 
compact bushes, never allow any shoot to make more than five leaves without 
pinching out the terminal bud with the nails of the finger and thumb. The 
tree will, in a year or two, become too much crowded with young shoots ; thin 
them with a sharp knife, leaving no spurs, but cut close to the main branch or 
stem. Figs like more heat than any other fruit yet mentioned ; they may 
have the warmest corner of the house, not requiring much ventilation. A 
house with fire-heat is indeed necessary for them, if two crops in the season 
are wished for. In 1S51 figs in common orchard houses ripened two crops 
of fruit in several instances. They must have abundance of water, or the 
fruit will all drop, when nearly full-grown, without ripening. The varieties 
best adapted for pot culture are, the Early Violet, the White Marseilles, and 
the Brown Turkej'', or Lee's Perpetual : if more varieties are required, the 
Angelique and Black Ischia may be added. 

To those who have not much orchard-house room, the following method of 
growing figs may be useful. In the summer of 1857 I happened to visit 
Altenburg, a small town, the capital of the Duchy, about twenty miles from 
Leipsic. In the kitchen garden of the castle I observed some fine half- 
standard fig-trees with very stout clear stems and round heads full of fruit, 
then (August) nearly full grown. Aware of the coldness of the climate, 
the thermometer often descending man}' degrees below zero in winter, so as 
to kill fig-trees in the open air, I inquired of the gardener how they were 
managed. He stated that every season, in October, they were taken up 
with their balls of earth and placed in a cellar, where they remained till 
the first week in May : they were then brought into the kitchen garden and 
planted in a row as I then saw them. He said they always ripened one i 

i^Ql — 






THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 

abundant crop of fruit in September. I have reason to believe that stand- 
ard figs treated in this way would also ripen one crop in the neighborhood 
of London, and in the Southern Counties. 

Pears. — In the South of England, pears can be grown on pyramids 
with so much success, " barring" spring frosts, that there is no occasion to 
let them occupy room in the orchard house ; still, in seasons like that of 
1850, when, in even the most favored districts, all the blossoms were de- 
stroyed by spring frosts,! felt much gratification in having about a dozen 
trees in pots on quince-stocks covered with fine fruit, — and more highly 
flavored Brown Beurres I have never tasted. Their culture is very simple, 
for trees on quince-stocks that have been root-pruned may be potted any 
time in the autumn, or even as late as February, and yet give a crop the 
first season after potting ; as they set their fruit very thickly, they must be 
severely thinned the first season, and eight or ten pears ought to be the 
maximum of a crop. In two or three years a well-managed tree will be 
able to give from eighteen to two dozen finely-grown fruit. In the North 
this method of culture will be found both eligible and interesting ; for 
glass without fire-heat will give just the climate suitable to the finer sorts 
of pears. 

The pear-tree, when grafted on the quince, seems to be quite at home in 
a pot. I have some trees that have now been five years in 13-inch pots ; 
they are in the most perfect health, and the stock seems to swell with the 
graft, showing that existing circumstances are favorable to its growth. I 
am inclined to attribute this healthy state of the stock, and consequently of 
the tree, to the roots of the quince enjoying, if I may so express it, the 
warm atmosphere which surrounds the pots during the whole summer ; for 
my trees have been placed, unplunged, out of doors in the sun : in warm 
dry soils however, to economise water, it would be advisable to plunge the 
pots one-third of their depth in the soil. Peai'-trees are gross feeders, and 
should have three or four surface-dressings of manure during the summer. 

Pears deserve to be grown extensively in pots ; and in climates liable to 
spring frosts, or in gardens having but little space for the finer kinds of 
pears on walls, a pear-house maj^ be built, as recommended for plums. The 
trees may be treated exactly in the same way, and abundant crops ofi fair- 
sized fruit obtained. Pears ripened under glass require attention as to the 
proper time of gathering them ; they must not be sufiered to hang, too long 
on the trees ; for in 1854, and again in 1855, in two or three instances, I 
had pears on my trees which were grown under glass all the season ; these, 
although of fine size, and most beautiful in appearance, having clear skins 
of a fine golden color, without speck or blemish, never became soft ; I was 
for some little time, I must confess, entirely at a loss to account for this 
curious fact, as all circumstances seemed so favorable to the ripening pro- 
cess ; but I believe I have now discoved the cause. In the autumn of 1855 
I allowed some Louise Bonne pears, some Passe Colmar, and a few other 
kinds, growing in the open air on trees well sheltered, so that no wind 
could displace them, to remain on the trees till the first week in November ; 
they were remarkably beautiful, both in form and color, and the fine dry 
weather we had for so long a period seemed so favorable that I felt unwil- 
ling to gather them : these pears never ripened. I am, therefore, led to con- 
clude that pears under glass should be gathered early, i. e., as soon as they 
will part from their foot-stalks when lifted. From not being disturbed by 







32 THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 

the wind when under glass they will hang a long time, and one is loath to 
rob the trees of their ornaments : they thus become hard and worthless 
from a species of over-indulgence. 

From recent experience, I am induced to recommend that in the South of 
England pear-trees should always be removed from the orchard house in 
July, and suffered to ripen their fruit in the open air, in a sheltered yet 
sunny situation ; their flavor will then be piquant and racy, more so than 
that of fruit gathered from wall tx'ees. 

The trees should be formed into bushes, as recommended for apricots, 
plums, &c. ; the young shoots pinched in June, and the leading shoot of 
each divergent branch shortened in August to six inches ; so that the 
tree gradually, but slowly, increases in size, every part being furnished 
with blossom-buds. An abundant top-dressing of the strong compost re- 
commended for apricots must be given in spring, even laid up above the 
rim of the pot ; and such gross feeders are they, that manure-water may be 
given to them every day in summer with advantage. The most prolific and 
eligible sorts for pot culture are, the Brown Beurre ; Easter Beurre ; Glou 
Morcean ; Bergamotte d'Esperen ; Gansel's Bergamot ; Doyenne Gris ; 
Beurre d'Aremberg ; Beurre de Ranee ; Louise Bonne ; Marie Louise ; 
Passe Cohnar ; Josephine de Malines ; Crassane : Winter Nelis ; Beurre 
Olairgeau ; Prince Albert ; and Van Mons (Leon le Clerc). The above are 
all autumn and winter pears. If summer pears are desired, Doyonne d'Ete, 
Jai'gonelle, Citron des Carmes, and Colmar d'Ete, may be potted. In the 
North, where these early varieties do not ripen kindly in the open air, their 
culture under glass will give much satisfaction, for they may be brought to 
the dessert with their fruit in full maturity. I need not, I trust, say more 
about this really new and interesting mode of cultivating pears. My read- 
ers will, I hope, see its advantages, and many of them venture to put it in 
practice. I may, I trust, be allowed to add, that if I lived in an unfavor- 
able pear climate, and wished for a certain supply of fine winter pears, I 
should fill a house with those two most delicious kinds, Josephine de Ma- 
lines and Winter Nelis, which, unlike some sorts, ripen under glass with 
their full flavor. 

Gn'tl.pes. — For some few years it has been the fashion for gardeners in 
lordly places to grow grape-vines in pots, which, after bearing one crop of 
fruit, hav£ been destroyed. Now these pots are generally of such large 
dimensions as to be quite out of character for our orchard houses, and 
totally unfit for the amateur who wishes to be master of " all he surveys." 
By observing in the land of the vine that grapes, and good grapes, could 
be grown on very small bushes, and in crevices containing but a scanty 
portion of earth, I was induced to try their culture in comparatively small 
pots, without destroying them after giving their first produce, continuing 
their culture without shifting, but top-dressing them annually, suffering 
their roots to feed in the border during the summer, and then root-pruning 
and managing them in the same way as other orchard-house trees. This 
has succeeded admirably, and my vine bushes have been beautiful objects, 
bearing' from four to six bunches of nicely-ripened grapes. 

To form these bushes but little care is requisite ; a vine one or two years 
from the eye, with a single stem, must be selected, and potted into an 11- 
inch pot, in the same compost as recommended for other fruit trees, adding 
to each pot a quart of 1-inch bones, well mixed with the mould ; then cut the 





THE ORCHAED HOUSE. 

vine down to within eight buds of its base : the thi-ee lower buds must go 
for nought ; the five upper buds, if the wood be well ripened, will give each 
a bunch. The lower shoots should be stopped, their tops pinched oflF as 
soon as they are four inches long : the upper five shoots may be suffered to 
grow till the bunch is perceptible ; these may then be stopped one bud above 
the bunch, and all lateral shoots that afterwards come forth may be stopped 
at two buds from the base of the shoot they spring from. No other prun- 
ing will be required during the first season than this finger-and-thumb 
pruning. It is quite possible tliat some of the five buds may fail to give a 
bunch ; no matter, stop them of the same length as the fruit-bearing shoots, 
so as to make a uniform pretty bush ; for the vine in all sites and situations, 
and in all stages of its growth, is a beautiful object. You will now have 
an upright stem with five divergent branches or spurs. Now, on the prun- 
ing of these spurs depends success ; they will, of course, from being grown 
under glass, be well ripened, and the buds well developed. Begin at the 
stem, and count four or five buds upwai'ds ; the fourth or fifth will, in all 
probability, be nice and plump. This must be. your fruit-bud. Cut down to 
it closely ; then with a sharp pen-knife cut out two or three buds, leaving 
the terminal bud and another at the base of the spur close to the stem. 
This will give you a shoot, which is to be your fruit-bearing shoot for the 
following year. You will thus have on each spur two buds, one for fruit, 
and the other for wood. 

In autumn, that part of the spur which has borne fruit must be cut down 
close to the shoot which is to bear fruit the following season, and this shoot 
must be pruned in the same manner to one fruit-bud and one shoot-bud. 
This pruning should be done early in October, as the buds are then fully 
developed, and much is gained by autumnal pruning. A vine treated thus 
will last for many years, and may be always kept as a dwarf bush : the 
main stem, in time, will swell, and not require the support of a stick. 

The first season the cultivator must be content with four or five bunches 
from the vine ; but if it has its annual autumnal top-dressing of the com- 
post described in p. 18, and in summer a weekly supply of manure- 
water, it will soon be able to bear eight or ten bunches, and become like 
one of those hardy prolific bushes one often sees growing in the crevices of 
rocks in the wine countries of Europe. 

After their fruit is set, vines require syringing like other orchard-house 
trees. As soon as the fruit is gathered, prune off the roots which have fed 
them so bountifully all the summer, top-dress them, withhold water, and put 
them to rest for the winter. I may add, that vines do not need the extreme 
ventilation recommended for stone-fruits : a warm part of the orchard house 
will suit them best ; or if a small house with a brick Arnott stove can be 
entirely appropriated to them, so as to force them, and have two, or even 
three, crops in the season, their culture will be most interesting. To do 
this, if forcing be commenced in January, put in one-third of your plants, 
early in March another third, and then in May the remainder. I do not 
hesitate to say that a house appropriated to vines in pots will give more 
fruit than the same space of glass with vines trained to rafters in the usual 
manner. 

The varieties best adapted for this bush culture are those that are very 
^JEjfe prolific, none are more so than the following : — the Early Malingre ; the 
^1 JjPurple and Black Frontignans, most abundant bearers ; the Prolific Sweet ' 








THE OECHARD HOUSE. 

Water ; the Purple Fontainebleau, also abundantly prolific ; the Esperione; 
the Grove End Sweet Water ; the Cambridge Botanic Garden, a variety of 
the Black Prince, and a great bearer ; the Chasselas Musquee ; the Muscat 
St. Laurent ; the Royal Muscadine ; the White Romain ; the Black Ham- 
burg ; and the Chaptal, which gives large and most beautiful bunches. It 
must not be forgotten that the berries must all be thinned when thej have 
attained the size of small peas, or they will become crowded and inferior. 

Apples. — There are a few delicious American apples which require more 
sun and a drier climate than that of our " tight little island,", and these I 
feel convinced can be cultivated in the orchard house with success. They 
should be grafted on the Paradise stock, be planted in the same sized pots 
as other orchard-house trees, in the same compost, and have the same ti'eat- 
ment with regard to summer pinching as apricots. The only sorts I know 
at present to be worthy of this in the South of England are some foreign 
varieties, among which are the American apples, the Newtown Pippin ; the 
Northern Spy, a delicious, large, handsome, and good-keeping apple, with 
half-melting flesh ; the Melon Apple, of equal goodness : these seem to 
require a warmer climate than the open air even of our Southern Counties. 
The Male Carle, a favorite Italian apple, may also be tried. In the far 
North, however, some of our fine English apples may be equally worthy of 
a place under glass : such as the Ribstone Pippin ; the Nonpareil ; the 
Golden Pippin ; the Golden Reinette ; the Van Mons Reinette ; Coe's Golden 
Drop ; the Sturmer Pippin, and some others. I hope one day to see orchard 
houses on many a sunny slope in the Highlands; and why not ? If art 
and wealth can overcome Nature in making fruits grow instead of heather, 
the conquest will cause smiles rather than tears, and give a much greater 
amount of happiness than the " glorious victories " of our history. 

3Iulberries. — In the North this delicious fruit does not ripen kindly ; in 
such localities dwarf plants in pots may be tried in the orchard house, and 
I doubt not but they will succeed well. 

I may also add that White Currants, which are seldom well ripened, and 
even then are very acid, may be grown to great perfection in pots under 
glass. 

Strawberries. — On the back border of the lean-to orchard house — for, 
unless the front is partially of glass, the front border is too much shaded — 
spaces will be found for strawberries in pots, and they give much pleasure 
and satisfaction ; their fruit will ripen about ten days before those from 
plants in the open air, and to a certainty will not be spoiled by rain or ver- 
min. Whoever has tasted fruit of the " British Queen " grown under glass 
without being forced, will, I am sure, have a lively recollection of their 
being much higher flavored than those generally gathered from strawberry 
beds. 

Nothing in our orchard-house culture is so simple as the management of 
potted strawberries, and nothing will be so certain of agreeable results. 
About the middle of July take 6-inch pots, place two or three large pieces 
of broken pots at the bottom, so as to lie hollow ; then mix your compost, 
which should be two-thirds loam — if rather stiff the better — and one-third 
rotten manure. You are so far prepared for operating ; but you still lack 
an implement, and what a strange one in the hands of a gardener ! for it is 
neither more nor less than a pestle, — a wooden pestle, fashioned out of any 
stout stake, and perfectly rounded at bottom : now then, take a handful of) 

i^£^ - 




mould — nothing' like the hand in potting — put it into your pot, and give it 
a good pounding, and so keep on with a handful, and a pounding, till your 
pot is full, quite level with the brim, for the earth will afterwards sink 
enough to retain water. You will thus, if you have done well, make your 
earth level with the brim, and as hard as a barn floor. Take the pots to 
your strawberry beds, — and mind, there are but few strawberries known at 
present to be worth forcing or growing in pots in the orchard house, — 
Keen's Seedling and the Seedling Eliza for early sorts, and the British 
Queen and Carolina Superba for a main crop, will suffice, — and place on 
the centre of each pot a runner which has commenced to make roots, or if 
no roots are apparent it will do as well, and on the runner place a small 
stone, to keep it from being blown off by the wind : make no hollow place : 
do nothing but place it on the hard surface, as I have directed. If the 
weather be dry, water daily ; and if the runner, as is often the case, pushes 
forth another runner, pinch it off. In two or three weeks the roots will have 
penetrated to the bottom of the pot ; the plant may remain attached to its 
parent till the middle of September, and then all the pots may be removed 
to their winter quarters, — some sunny place : they should be placed on 
rough cinders, and then plunged in sawdust or rotten tan. In February, 
they may be removed to the orchard house or forcing-house, as required ; 
no shifting is requisite, and a plentiful crop will be the result. 

Strawberry plants, treated in this manner, attain much strength and lux- 
uriance in the autumn ; their fruit-buds will be finely developed, and they 
will be all that the gardener can wish them to be. This very simple mode of 
treating strawberries for culture under glass is not new ; it was pointed 
out to me by a market-gardener some years ago. I have practised it ever 
since, and am more than ever pleased with it. In growing strawberries in 
pots, it is the usual practice to place them on shelves close to the glass. 
In the orchard house at Hyde Hall, I have seen, annually, remarkably fine 
crops ; the pots are placed among the peach-trees, on the back border, six 
feet from the glass. 

The following extract from the " G-ardener's Chronicle " of June 1, 1856, 
seems to give a very nice mode of cultivating strawberries in pots : — 

" In the garden of the Horticultural Society, in the year 1855, Mr. Gordon 
caused runners to be taken up from the ordinary plants in the open borders 
in the first week in August, and potted in 2^inch pots (small 60s); the soil 
used was a mixture of rotten cow-dung and loam (quarter dung, three-quar- 
ters loam). When potted, they were placed in a close frame until estab- 
lished, and when the roots had filled the little pots, which was in about four 
or five weeks, the plants were shifted in the same kind of soil as before, 
into 4-inch fruiting pots (4:8s). They were afterwards transferred to a fully 
exposed situation in the open air, where they remained until the first week 
in December, at which time they were removed to a border in an unheated 
orchard house, where they were kept rather dry during winter. On the Hth 
of March the pots were removed to the front shelf in a curvilinear vinery, 
kept at a temperature of 40° until the middle of xipril, when the tempera- 
ture was raised to 55°. The plants were watered twice, when the fruit was 
fairly set, at an interval of three days, with a weak liquid manure, made 
with half-rotted cow-dung and water, allowed to stand a few days before 
using. The result was an abundant crop of excellent fruit." 

Almonds. — To those who wish to be reminded of the " sweet South," by 








THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 

having' almonds fresh, and ripe from the tree, the orchard house will give 
one more tribute. Almond-trees in pots require exactly the same treatment 
as peaches and nectarines ; but the choice of the proper sorts is of conse- 
quence. The Sweet Almond in common cultivation, and which is so con- 
spicuous in our shrubberies in March, with its bi'ight pink blossoms, is not 
the variety to be selected. The only sorts worthy of cultivation are the 
Tender-Shelled Almond — " Amande a Coque Tendre," and the Large-Fruited 
Almond — " Amande a Tr^s Gros Fruits ;" the former has shells very tender 
and easily broken with the fingers ; the latter gives large fruits with shells 
not quite so tender. They require, however, even more air than peaches, 
while in bloom, and if the weather be dry and sunny they should be placed 
in the open air by day, removing them to the house at night : if this is 
inconvenient, they should be placed near one of the ventilators, which 
should be open night and day. 

THK FORGING ORCHARD HOUSE. 

This kind of fruit house may be built in the same way as the common 
orchard house ; but it is necessary to nail felt over the boards to prevent 
its being too airy in early spring, when forcing is commenced. It requires 
skill and attention ; still, with only common care, a house heated by a brick 
Arnott stove placed in the .centre, or by hot-water pipes, will not disappoint 
the careful amateur gardener, and will give strawberries in March, grapes 
in May, and peaches and nectarines in June. 

I have a house thirty feet long, with abrick Arnott stove in the centre of 
the back border, which is excavated for it. Everything thrives admirably. 
!My forced strawberries, placed on the front border near the glass, root into 
it, and give me abundance of excellent fruit. In like manner, peaches, 
grapes, figs, and apricots may be forced with but little trouble — in fact, 
with much pleasux-e and gratification. The three modes of heating are by 
a well-built flue, the brick Arnott stove, and hot-water pipes ; the first and 
second are about equal as regards economy, — the latter the most expensive, 
but certainly more agreeable than any other. A flue may be employed for 
houses under fifty feet in length and twelve or fourteen feet wide, efficiently, 
but not, I think, for houses above that length. Any country bricklayer can 
build one : its dimensions inside should be nine inches deep, and six inches 
wide, formed by bricks on edge, covered with two layers of tiles : the fur- 
nace should be fixed low, so that there is an immediate ascent from the end 
of the furnace into the flue, and a gentle rise— three inches in twenty feet 
— should continue to the chimney, which may be less than the flue with 
advantage, according to some gardeners ; it is not, however, of much 
import. In building these forcing orchard houses the constant ventilation 
through the cracks in the boards must be avoided ; the boards must be 
rebated or be cased with asphalt felt ; or, as bricks are clieap, the walls 
may be of brick, with the ventilating shutters in back and front. The forc- 
ing orchard house I have alluded to above is built with posts of larch cut 
once down and covered with half-inch boards ; these being nailed on, were 
well tarred with Stockholm tar, and the felt (M'Neil's) then nailed on, and 
done over twice or thrice with boiling coal-tar, in which lime that had been 
slaked a fortnight was mixed to the consistency of thick paint : this has 
formed a shining imperishable mineral coat. I know of nothing equal to it 
for felt, clay, or lime walls or fences. My clay walls on some old buildings : 





THE OKCHARD HOUSE. '6i , 

have, by repeatedly using it, become coated with a substance as hard as 
stone. 

I have mentioned that bricks may be used ; but although I have many 
plant houses built vpith bricks, I have not employed them for building 
orchard houses, or even houses for forcing roses, &c. My preference for 
boards covered with felt for forcing houses may be owing to imagination ; 
but I may as well state why I have and do prefer them ; — it is because I 
have found them fiercely hot during the day, even in moderate sunshine, the 
evil eifects of which are easilj'- modified by abundant ventilation, and agree- 
ably cool during the night, without that stifling atmosphere peculiar to 
houses with brick walls, only because bricks give out heat for many hours 
after sunset. Now, in thus rapidly cooling down, they certainly approxi- 
mate to the descriptions given of the climate of the East, the birthplace of 
all our choice fruits ; and so my peaches, nectarines, grapes, and figs grow 
and do well in houses with their walls of half-inch boards and felt. 

Forcing of peaches and nectarines in pots, unless the fruit is required to 
be ripe very early, i. e., in April, or early in May, is not a difficult opera- 
tion. The trees should be removed from the orchard house to the forcing 
house in December, and towards the end of the month have a good supply 
of wa^er, so as to thoroughly moisten the earth ; if severe frost comes on, 
a fire should be lighted at night to keep the earth in the pots from being 
frozen. About the middle of January forcing may be commenced, the tem- 
perature by day kept up to 50° by fire-heat (if the sun shines it will mount 
up to 60° and 10° for a short time without injury to the trees), the night 
temperature may go down to 40°. The trees should be syringed twice a 
day with tepid water ; this will soon make the blossom-buds swell ; and 
when they are fully open, which will be in about twelve days, discontinue 
syringing, and, if the weather is mild and sunny, give air very freely in the 
day and a little by night, so that no stagnant moist air, so fatal to the blos- 
soms of the peach, exists in the house ; if the weather is keen and frosty, 
air must still be admitted, and a brisker fire kept up, so that the tempera- 
ture is not lower than 50° by day and 36° by night. Close worsted netting, 
or Hay thorn's hexagon netting, placed over the ventilators, will allciw of 
air being given night and day, even in frosty weather, without injury to the 
blossom. As soon as the fruit is set and commences to swell, syringing 
twice a day (with tepid water), as directed for peach culture in the orchard 
house, may commence ; a day temperature of 60° and a night of 40° to 45° 
should be kept up, and, when sunny, abundance of air may be given, for 
the thermometer will then rise to 80° and 90° ; instead of lowering the fire, 
which may lead to inconvenience, admit more air, to lower the temperature, 
for gleams of sunshine in our early spring months are not of long duration, 
and the temperature is completely at command by the ventilators. To sum 
up, give brisk fire-heat and abundance of air by day ; very little fire-heat, 
or none if the weather is warm, and a slight portion of air by night ; sjTinge 
twice a day — in the morning at 9, in the afternoon at 4 — till the fruit com- 
mences to color, and peaches and nectarines will ripen kindly, early in June, 
and be of fine flavor. 

Apricots, May Duke cherries, and plums, may also be forced ; and although 

in large establishments the two former often have houses especially allotted 

- to them, as they require much care to fully succeed, yet a few trees placed 

^juear the ventilators, for they require even more air than peaches and nee- 







THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 

tarines, may do very well with them. It is a good practice to thin out the 
clusters of blosBorus on the May Duke cherries with sharp-pointed scissors 
before they open, taking out quite half from each cluster. 

THE HEDGE OKCHARD HOUSE. 

Some thirty years since, I planted numerous beech hedges for shelter ; 
these stand with their ends S. E. and N. W. A few years ago their S. W. 
sides looked such compact green walls, 8 feet high, that I was tempted to 
rear against them four lean-to houses, each 40 feet long and 12 feet wide, 8 
feet high at back, and 3 feet high at front, with a sunken path in the centre. 
The climate in these houses in the summer months is most delightful. Tea- 
scented roses, magnolias, and other shrubs liable to injury from our severe 
winters, thrive admirably, owing to the dryness of the soil and air. Apri- 
cots and peaches ripen about three weeks or a month later than those on 
walls ; but, owing to the quantity of cold air admitted through the back 
hedge in spring, their blossoms often suffer in April, if frosts are severe. I 
found this to be the case in 1854 and 1855 ; this induced me to build some 
small span-roofed houses, 12 and 14 feet wide, 4 feet high at the sides, and, 
instead of using boards, to plant them with hedges to form the walls, — one 
with yew, the other with Siberian Arbor Vita3. These are clipped twice in 
the growing season ; they now form compact hedges, and seem to flourish 
all the better for the drip from the glass which pours into them when it 
rains heavily. I mention these span-roofed hedge houses, not only because 
their climate in spring, summer, and autumn, is most charming, and perfect 
as a promenade for persons in delicate health, but for their convenience in 
retarding fruits. The trees bloom ten or twelve days later than those in the 
regular orchard house, and generally escape injury from spring frosts ; there 
is such a constant percolation of air through the hedges when the sun shines, 
that the healthy growth is surprising. If Royal George and Noblesse 
peaches are to be retarded, they may be removed from the boarded orchard 
house to the span-roofed hedge house from the first week in June till Au- 
gust ; they will ripen about three weeks later than those left in it. Apri- 
cots, plums, and pears ripen well in these houses, and are always perfect in 
flavor ; cherries are liable to be eaten by birds which creep through the 
hedges. The great charm of them is, their perfect ventilation without any 
trouble. For many kinds of greenhouse plants they will be found the best 
of summer quarters ; the increased temperature in sunny weather, from 15° 
to 20° above the open air, and the absence of heavy storms, which so often 
injure exotics when placed out of doors in summer, are most advantageous 
to their well doing. 

THE TROPICAL ORCHARD HOUSE. 

An orchard house for tropical fruits has long been with me a favorite 
idea, and recently, from my having had a daughter return from a nearly 
two years' residence in the West Indies, it has received a fresh stimulus. 
The variety of tropical fruits seems almost endless ; some of them, if I may 
judge from description, are too rich, others too insipid for English palates, and 
of the greater part the trees that bear them would require a house far beyond 
the means of the amateur not blessed with a large fortune. I will, therefore, 
t for the present, confine myself to a tropical orchard house for fruit trees of 
^.moderate growth, not extravagant in its dimensions, and yet capable of 







THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 

ing many luxuries. The small span-roofed Imuse, with some little modifica- 
tion, (described in pp. 11 and 12,) seems best adapted for this purpose : 
its sides should be five feet in height, three feet of which should be 9-inch 
brickwork, and two feet (the upper part) of glass, with sashes t^o feet 
long, on pivots or hinges, at intervals of five feet for ventilation in hot weath- 
er ; it should be glazed with double crown glass, which is very clear, and 
rarely gives occasion to scorching. Its height should be ten feet, the path two 
and a half feet wide, and the borders on each side four and a half feet wide, 
raised with brickwork to sixteen inches in height. In the centre of each 
border two 4-inch hot-water pipes should be laid, and then a flooring of 
slates laid across from wall to wall of each bed, so as to leave a space for 
a hot-air chamber ; six inches of the brickwork must be carried up above 
the slates so as to form a hollow bed with 6-inch edgings to support the 
mould, which must rest on the slates to form the perpetual hotbed, on which 
the pots are to stand. The compost for this border should be two parts turfy 
sandy loam, lumpy as possible, one part rotten dung, and one part bricks 
broken into small pieces from the size of a nut to that of a walnut, with their 
dust ; these should be mixed with the above, to keep it open and favorable 
for drainage, and a border of mould made with it on the slates, four or five 
inches in depth. A perpetual hotbed is thus formed. 

So far this is a safe and necessary step ; bat the hotbed will not heat the 
air of the house sufficiently in the damp and chilly days of winter. This 
must be 'done by two 4-inch hot-water pipes carried round both sides of the 
house, next to the walls, just above the surface of the borders. The at- 
mosphere of a house thus heated should range, in spring, summer, and au- 
tumn, from seventy to ninety degrees (the latter only in sunny weather), 
and from sixty to seventy in winter, i. e., from the end of November till the 
middle of February. 

It is well known that orange trees, cultivated in the usual way in France 
or England, never give fruit at all eatable, solely from the lack of heat at 
their ripening period late in autumn and winter. In Grenada (West Indies) 
they commence to ripen towards the end of October in a temperature vary- 
ing from 70° to 80° or thereabouts ; their flavor there, freshly gathered from 
the trees, is so delicious that they are far superior to those we receive from 
St. Michael's and other places, all of which are gathered before they are 
ripe. In our tropical orchard house oranges would ripen about Christmas. 
How agreeable to be able to gather a portion of the Christmas dessert from 
one's own trees ! . , . 

The orange will, I have no doubt, form a distinguished feature m this 
mode of fruit culture. I will, therefore, commence with directions for its 
cultivation. As an ornamental tree in the greenhouse and conservatory, it 
is an old friend ; and perhaps no tree in the known world has suffered, and 
does suffer, such vicissitudes, yet living and seeming to thrive under them. 
It glories in a tropical climate, and yet lives and grows after being poked 
into those cellar-like vaults used for its winter quarters on the Continent ; 
it gives flowers in abundance under such treatment, and would even give 
its fruit — albeit uneatable — if permitted. Nearly the same kind of cultiva- 
tion has been followed for many, many years in England : it has rarely had 
heat sufficient to keep the tree in full vigor, and its roots in pots or tubs 
t must have suffered severely from having been placed out of doors in summer 
Ion our cool damp soil, and in winter on a stone floor still more cold 




roots could make their complaints audible, vsdiat moanings shoiald we hear 
in our orangeries all the winter ! 

In cultivating the orange for its fruit, the first consideration is ta procure 
some of the most desirable varieties ; such as the delicious thin and smooth- 
rinded oranges which we receive from St. Michael's ; the Maltese blood- 
orange, and the Mandarin : with the present facilities of transport, young 
trees of these could be procured. The latter, called also the Tangerin or- 
ange, deserves especial notice, as it proves to be the hardiest, as well as the 
most excellent in flavor, of any yet introduced. It will do well in a common 
greenhouse ; and, when placed out of doors in June, it ripens its fruit of 
fine flavor in September ; which remain good on the tree for six months. 
This delicious little orange is only eaten in perfection when fresh from the 
tree. In Lisbon it is sent to dessert in clusters with leaves attached to 
them : unless these are quite fresh and green when the fruit is served, it is 
not reckoned in full flavor. If grown in the tropical orchard house, the trees 
should be placed in the coolest part of it, and have abundance of air in mild 
weather in winter ; they will then bloom later, and set their fruit with 
greater certainty. They should be placed out of doors in June (so that the 
fruit ripens slowly), and replaced in the house in September. 

There are also some sweet oranges cultivated in France, of which trees 
could be readily introduced ; but the first-named varieties seem to me most 
worthy of the careful cultivation to be given them in the tropical orchard 
house. The first matter of import is the soil best adapted for the orange ; 
there are many receipts given in our gardening books, but the most simple 
compost of all, and one that cannot fail, is the following : two parts sandy 
loam, from the surface of some pasture or heathy common, chopped up with 
its turf, and used with its lumps of turf about the size of large walnuts, and 
its fine mould, the result of chopping, all mixed together ; one part rotten 
manure at least a year old, and one part leaf mould ; to a bushel of this 
compost add a quarter of a peck of silver, or any course siliceous sand — 
calcareous sand and road sand are injurious — and the mixture will do for all 
the fruit trees of the tropical orchard house, as well as for oranges. In 
potting the orange it is better to commence with a pot too small rather than 
too large ; for, unlike the peach or the plum, it does not feed rapidly and 
at once fill the pot with roots. Thus a tree two or three years old, may 
be potted into a 9-inch pot, suffered to remain for one year, and then removed 
to a 13-inch pot, perforated as for other orchard-house trees, in which it may 
remain (unless the house is very large, and a large tree is wished for) six, 
seven, or ten years : a portion of the surface soil should be annually removed 
early in February, as directed for other orchard-house trees, but not deeper 
than from three to four inches, and the pots filled up with the above com- 
post ; and about the beginning of March a surface-dressing of manure should 
be given. 1 have observed that the French cultivators strew fresh sheep's 
manure on the surface ; they also place their trees in a pure peat earth. I have 
not seen this mode of culture in England, but it may be tried where peat is 
abundant. Two other surface-dressings of manure should be given, one in 
June, the other the beginning of September. The trees will of course be 
placed on the hotbed, or plunged slightly two or three inches into the mould. 
I am not, however, an advocate for plunging to any extent, unless very 
rapid growth is required, for I find that trees in pots standing on a bed oi< 
[, heated mould and rooting into it, make a healthier, although a slower 1^ 






THE OECHAKD HOUSE. 




growth. As soon as the fruit is gathered, which ought to be by the begin- 
ning of February, when foreign oranges commence to be good, the trees 
should be lifted and root-pruned, as directed for peaches, and top-dressed. 

Orange trees should have a portion of the house to themselves, divided by 
a light glass pai'tition, as they require and will bear more ventilation than 
other tropical fruit-bearing trees. Thus a portion of the small span-roofed 
house should be appropriated to them, so that they are placed on both 
borders, the other part of the house being occupied with mixed trees and 
shrubs. Air can then be given to them by opening the sashes on one or both 
sides, without interfering with trees and shrubs requiring less ventilation. 

Orange trees when grown constantly under glass are liable to a black 
fungus on the upper surface of the leaves ; this can only be removed with a 
sponge and warm water ; they should be syringed with soft tepid water 
twice a day (at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.) during the summer, and once a day in the 
morning in sunny weather, in early spring and autumn ; while the fruit is 
ripening in the winter, syringing should be discontinued. It is the custom 
to cultivate orange trees in square boxes made of oak. I am inclined, how- 
ever, to recommend pots perforated at bottom, as usual with other pots 
used for orchard-house trees ; the slate pots made by Mr. Beck, of Isleworth, 
are very neat and even ornamental; with the usual five or seven perforations, 
they would doubtless answer very well. If wooden boxes are used they should 
have bars at the bottom to allow the roots to make their way into the hotbed. 

The Mangosteen (Garcinia Mangostana). There are, it is said, many 
kinds of this " most delicious of all fruits," varying in their size, flavor, 
and fertility. Penang and Singapore are, according to report, the only 
places to which it is brought in perfection ; the communication with these 
places is now much quickened by the Overland Route and steamers. 
Young trees of some of the most prolific varieties should be imported, and 
also abundance of young trees of some of the more common kinds, to be 
used as stocks for grafting, which, as is well known, often induces a tree to 
bear fruit. By these means fruit-bearing Mangosteen trees will soon cease 
to be rarities, and we may even live to see Covent Garden supplied with 
this rare fruit home-grown. The trees should be planted in the pots usually 
employed for orchard-house trees, and suffered to root into the hotbed of 
mould on which they are placed : if they are inclined to grow too vigor- 
ously, they should be kept in check by lifting the pots ; and when the fruit 
is gathered, root-pruning and top-dressing, in the usual way, should be 
attended to ; — in short, to prevent repetition, the treatment recommended 
for orange trees will, as far as I can see, answer for all other tropical 
orchard-house trees. 

The " Chiriraoya " (Anona Cherimolia). In our estimation this is the 
Mangosteen of South America. A recent traveller in Peru (Markham) de- 
scribes it as resembling " spiritualized strawberries and cream." It is said 
to attain its greatest perfection at Caraccas, owing probably to peculiarity 
of climate ; as is the case with the Mangosteen at Singapoi'e and Penang. 
If there are any superior varieties in existence, they should be sought for 
at Caraccas ; and when tropical orchard houses are established, a consign- 
ment of Wardian cases, filled with young trees from La Guayra, — which 
is only about twenty miles from Caraccas, thus giving but trifling land- 
carriage, — will, I have no doubt, be a safe venture. ^ 

The Pomegranate (Punica Granatum). Although this tree does not in ' 







THE OECHARD HOUSE. 

general bloom and bear fruit under glass, treated as it is in France and 
England, I am inclined to think that, like orange-trees, it will succeed in 
the tropica] orchard house : there is a large-fruited sort from Malta, and a 
seedless variety, both of them worthy of a trial. 

The Lee Chee (Euphoria Litchi). This, even when brought over from 
China in a half-dried state, is, as I can testify, a delicious fruit ; when fresh 
from the tree it is said by those who have visited China to be most refresh- 
ing and excellent. 

The Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica). This is also a Chinese fruit which 
will ripen in the tropical orchard house in winter, and is therefore desirable ; 
trees grafted on the common white-thorn will come into bearing more 
quickly than those reared from cuttings, layers, or seeds. The late Lord 
Bagot, according to Loudon, used to grow this fruit in great perfection at 
Blithfield ; its flavor is mild and agreeable, something like a medlar. 

The Guava (Psidium Cattleyanum). This is the most prolific of the 
guavas, and bears most abundantly ; its flavor is peculiar and does not at 
first please all palates, ^ut it is quite worthy of cultivation. There are 
also the Spice Guava, the size and shape of a lemon, with a white interior 
and clove-like flavor, and the Large Yellow Guava, its inside red, both of 
them esteemed in Grenada, an island remarkable for the great variety of 
its tropical fruits. 

The Granadilla (Passiflora). There are many varieties of this fruit, 
varying in flavor, size, and color, so that it is difficult to point out the best 
for our purpose. To some persons their flavor is most agreeable, to others 
the contrary. I suspect this must be partly owing to the variation of 
flavor in different sorts. Markhara speaks of the Peruvian Granadilla as 
being delicious. My daughter, from Grenada, mentions the " Water 
Lemon," a variety of the Granadilla the size of a hen's egg, and full of a 
most refreshing juice, as a delicious fruit. They are all climbers, and 
should have a frame of iron wire placed in the pot to train them to. 

The Mango (Manifera indica). There are numerous varieties of this fruit 
in India, more particularly in Java : some of the most free-bearing varie- 
ties should h% imported, as it is likely to prove a valuable fruit tree for 
this species of culture. The late T. A. Knight was " inclined to think that 
the mango might be raised in great abundance and considerable perfection 
in the stove in this country." Mr. Ivison, the skilful cultivator of tropical 
fruits at Sion House, is of the same opinion, as it does not require so high 
a temperature as many other tropical trees. 

The Dwarf Plantain (Musa Cavendishii). This fine and most prolific 
fruit-bearing plant will not group well with our other tropical trees and 
bushes ; but a place should be found for it at the warm end of the house 
near the boiler. As it is a gross feeder, it must have a larger pot than 
ordinary ; one from sixteen to eighteen inches in depth, and the same in 
diameter, will not be too large : such a pot will require at least seven 
apertures at bottom for the emission of roots. This plantain, however, roots 
so strongly that care must be taken to lift the pot at least once a fortnight, 
and rather to give it fortnightly surface-dressings of manure than suffer its 
roots to spread too far, — in short, to feed it from above rather than from 
below. 

The Rose Apple (Jambosa vulgaris). According to Loudon in his "Ency- 
fjclopsedia of Gardening," this is an agreeable tropical fruit, "about the size of 




"^z 




a hen's egg, vose-scented, with the flavour of a ripe apricot," ripening m 
December. Mr. Cattley used to have this at his famous hothouses in Hert- 
fordshire, of which now scarcely a vestige remains, and liada great success 
in its culture, as his trees yielded regularly abundance of fruit. Mr. Ivison 
also thinks this tree will prove useful. 

The Sweet Lime is a variety of tlie genus Citrus, the size and shape ot_ a 
full-sized nectarine, with a thin and fragrant rind of a pale yellow ; its 
flavour is like that of a very superior orange, with a delicious aroma, and 
so wholesome and refreshing is it, that "from twelve to eighteen may b<3 
eaten at once with pleasure and without injury to health." The tree is very 
prolific, and bears its beautiful fruit in clusters of ten and fifteen each ; this 
is a fruit highly esteemed in Grenada. 

The Sapodilla (a variety of Achres sapota) is also a Grenadian Iruit ; it 
is the size and shape of a large lemon, with a brown rough coat, and a 
luscious juicy pulp, in which a few black seeds are imbedded; it is commonly 
eaten with a spoon, and is in great estimation. , . , . 

The Fif . This may be made a most desirable tropical orchard-house tree, 
and so managed as to give its quota to the Christmas dessert. Trees of one 
or two years old, that have been protected from the winter, m a cold-p.t, 
should be potted early in May into 13-inch pots, and protected from Irost by 
being placed in the orchard house, or any cold frame or pit, till the hrst 
week in June. They may then be placed out of doors for the summer m a sunny 
exposure, sheltered from boisterous winds. Liquid manure may be given to 
them once a week, and they should be lifted once a fortnight, to prevent the 
roots which would make their way through the bottom of the pot trom bec^om- 
ino- too large. They may remain in their summer quarters till -the end ot bep- 
tember : but if one or two frosts occur in that month, they should be protected 
by having a piece of calico or a little hay thrown over them. At the end ot 
the month they will be covered with young green figs, and if removed to the 
tropical orchard house they will ripen their fruit towards the end of ^ovem- 
ber and through December. If it is wished to retard the ripening' ot the truit 
on some of the trees, they may be placed in the common orchard house or a 
cold-pit till the first week in November. They will then, on being removed 
to the tropical orchard house, mature their fruit even as lateas January ihe 
most prolific and best varieties for winter figs are the White Ischia, (this is 
sometimes called incorrectly the Nerli: it is a most abundant bearer ) the l^rown 
Turkey, or, as it is often called, Lee's Perpetual, and the White^ Marseilles 

I have in these few pages given the outline of what may be done towards 
increasing our garden luxuries- The culture of tropical fruits is not a new 
idea • but I have endeavored to give a new version of an old idea, there 
is now no occasion for the bark-bed, in which it was once thought necessary 
to plunge the pots containing the plants of all tropical fruits. A perpetual 
hotbed, on which to place the trees— which may or may not be a new inven- 
tion— is now easily formed by hot-water pipes : :and I well know, and again 
say that a tree standing on a hotbed will make a healthier although slower 
R-ro'wth than one that is plunged into a bark-bed. Moreover, the latter is 
always disagreeable from its requiring to be turned and renewed, as well 
as from its unpleasant smelL 

It will be seen that I have confined myself to the description of a compar- 
atively small tropical orchard house ; this I have done that I might be 
consistent. Large gardens have, for the most part, great gardeners, who 




THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 




know how to build houses, if the means are provided, much better than I 
can tell them ; but when the system of culture is understood, I can see no 
reason why the large span-roofed houses described should not be built in 
gardens of moderate size. The great object is to have abundance of heat 
at command ; the central border, therefore, in a large span-roofed house 
would require four 4-inch hot-water pipes, each side border two ; and to 
heat the air would require four 4-inch hot-water pipes round the sides. In 
such a house the trees might be suffered to grow to a goodly size and give 
a great abundance of tropical fruits from the delicious little Lee-chee to the 
exquisite freshly gathered Maltese orange. 

I have been content with the enumeration and description of only a few 
tropical fruits ; when their culture is better understood the list may be 
extended ;' for in all tropical climates there are numerous fruit-bearing trees 
and bushes utterly unknown to English gardens. It may perhaps be said 
that some of the kinds of fruit I have recommended, will form trees too large 
for a house of the dimensions given : this ought not to influence the culti- 
vator ; for, as is well known, the fig grows into a very large tree when the soil 
and climate are favourable, and yet bears well in a pot of moderate size. 
Collectors have for many years past paid much more attention to Orchids 
and Pines than to tropical fruits, only because their culture has not been 
carried on in England with spirit. Let us hope that, owing to the introduc- 
tion of hot water as a means of heating, the low price of glass and bricks, 
and the low price of timber, we shall see tropical orchard houses rising up 
and rivalling the now numei'ous orchard houses in their agreeable results. 

INSECTS AND HOW TO DESTROY THEM. 

The numerous species of aphides under the name of " blight" are, as is 
well known, most troublesome enemies to all fruit trees in the open air: 
one regrets that orchard-house trees are not exempt from their visitations. 
Each species of fruit tree seems to have its peculiar aphis. There are, 
however, two which attack the peach and nectarine; the brown aphis, which 
often makes its appearance on the young shoots and buds in November and 
December, and the green, which generally attacks the trees as soon as the 
fruit is set on the young leaves unfolded. These are easily destroyed by 
tobacco-water, made by infusing two ounces of tobacco in a quart of boiling 
water, and applying it when cool with a middle-sized painter's brush in the 
following manner : — With the left hand place a piece of slate or glass 
against the shoot, so that it rests against it, and then dip the brush in the 
water and brush upwards : if the first application does not kill them, it must 
be repeated. 

This will destroy all the tribe, even the hard-to-be-killed blue aphis, pecu- 
liar to the plum, and the black which so often infests the cherry. 

Another mode of destroying them is by fumigation, which is the most 
eligible when a large number of trees are infested. This is best done in the 
evening, and most economically with tobacco paper : the house should be 
shut up, and two or three (or more, according to the size of the house) 
8-inch flower pots, with large burning wood embers at the bottom, placed 
on a tripod, or on two or three stones, so that there is a draught through 
the bottom, and then filled with the paper. The next morning the trees 
should be syringed with all the force possible, by applying the syringe close 
pto each. Another mode of fumigation (and this is convenient when only a 






THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 





tree or two are infested) is, to envelope the tree in tiffany or thin calico, and 
then place under it a small pot of ignited tobacco paper. In all cases the 
dead and dying insects should be washed off with the syringe. " Sigraa's 
Aphis Powder," sold by Mr. Powell, Ticehurst, Sussex, is also a convenient 
and efficient aphis destroyer : this is best applied, by a dredging box with 
a muslin cover, to the under surface of the leaves ; it should be suffered to 
rest upon the leaves for eight or ten hours, and then be washed off with the 
syringe. 

In the orchard-house culture of peaches and nectarines, syringing must 
play an important part ; for the red spider is so fond of their leaves, that, 
like Sind bad's Old Man of the Sea, he will stick closelj'-, and cannot be dis- 
lodged without applying the syringe close to the under surface of the leaves. 
If this pest be suffered to make the least progress, the flavour of the fruit 
will be entirely destroyed. A small pocket lens, in the hand of the amateur, 
will be the best instrument to discern it ; looking closely at the under sur- 
face of the leaves, if it be there, a small bright-red speck, like a red grain 
of sand, will be seen. The experienced gardener does not look for them. 
One glance at the upper surface of those leaves, which show some minute 
yellowish specks, is quite enough for him. If, therefore, the least sign be 
apparent, continue the regular syringing, even till the fruit is ripe ; other- 
wise, syringing may be discontinued, when the peaches and nectarines 
commence to soften, preparatory to ripening. 

A very excellent mode of using sulphur has just been given in the 
" Gardener's Chronicle," No. 1, p. 5, by Mr. Gardener, of Rossall Hall, Fleet- 
wood. " The house being shut up quite close in the evening, some large 
flower pots (say 13-inch pots) were half filled with fresh unslaked lime: this 
was sprinkled with water, and a handful of sulphur strewed over it, and suf- 
fered to remain all night. The next morning the house was syringed till quite 
saturated." This will not only destroy the red spider, but also the mildew 
on vines, and is, in my opinion, one of the best remedies ever discovered. 
As prevention is better than cure, I advise all lovers of orchard houses and 
vineries to apply it once a week through June and July. I am inclined to 
think that this simple remedy will do away with the necessity of the constant 
syringing I have recommended ; and if so, the fruit will be improved in 
flavoui\ It is at any rate quite worthy of a trial. 

MONTHLY CALENDAR FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE ORCHARD HOUSE THROUGHOUT 

THE YEAR. 

January. — Observe the same rules for protection against frost, and give 
water, if necessary, as directed for December. In bright sunny weather 
the ventilators may be opened, to lower the temperature and prevent the 
blossom-buds from swelling prematurely. 

February. — Continue the same rules for ventilation and protection as 
directed for January : towards the end remove the trees to their summer 
stations, making one for each tree as directed in page 19. 

March. — Early in the month all the trees should be pruned according to 
the directions given under each kind of fruit. Watering may now be extended, 
unless the frost is very severe, giving a quart to each tree, and gradually 
saturating the earth. 

If the weather be sunny, with sharp frostj' nights, the shutters, both back 
and front, may be open from 9 a. m. to 4 p. m., and closed at night. If the 



t^o 







THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 

weather be cloudy with frost, the shutters should be closed night and day. 
Apricots will sometimes bloom in the middle of this month, before the other 
trees. If the frosts are severe at night, it will be well to throw a piece of 
tiffany over such as are in bloom, removing it in the morning; this is so light 
that the blossoms will not be injured. 

April. — Observe the same regulations as in March, as to ventilation. In 
the beginning of the month the trees will in most seasons be in full bloom. 
If severe frosts come on, which is sometimes the case, and the thermometer 
in the open air descends to 24° in the evening, a fire, consisting of 6 or 8 
quarts of charcoal, should be placed in an iron pan in the centre of the house: 
for a house 30 feet long one pan will do ; for one 100 feet long, three pans 
will be required. Whenever charcoal is burnt, the ventilators over the door 
or doors in span-roofed houses should be left open, and a portion of the top 
ventilators in lean-to houses. 

Towards the end of the month, when the fruit is set and commences to 
swell, syringe the trees morning and evening with soft water, or spring 
water that has been exposed to the air for a few hours. Place the syringe 
close to the under surface of the leaves. If the weather be dry and warm, 
the trees, if the earth is dry, may be watered in the evening, giving to each 
from 1 to 2 quarts of water. The aphides will now begin to make their 
appearance. Their destruction must be seen to, as directed in p. 44. 

3£ay. — ^Observe the same regulations as to watering and syringing the 
leaves, as in April. Ventilation must now be strictly attended to : in all 
descriptions of weather the ventilators must be open by day from 8 a. m. to 
6 p. M. ; but, if the situation of the house is exposed, so that the N. E. wind 
can blow through it, it will be as well not to open the ventilators that will 
admit that or the east wind when it blows fiercely. Worsted netting, with 
meshes just large enough to admit the point of the finger, is a most excel- 
lent material to place over the ventilating openings inside, to remain all the 
summer. It softens the violence of a brisk gale, and yet admits plenty of 
air. It will be found most useful near large smoky towns, for the fibres of 
the vvorsted meet in the meshes and keep out sooty particles ; insects also 
never attempt to enter. A clever orchard-house cultivator, living at Bow, 
near London, has found this worsted netting of great value, for his orchard- 
house trees are as green and as fresh in summer as if they were in the coun- 
try, instead of being in the midst of smoke. Aphides will now be very active, 
and must be destroyed. Apricots will also be infested with a caterpillar in 
their young shoots ; the ends of them must be pinched, so as to crush it. 

J'une. — Syringing at *! a. m. and 6 p. m. must now be strictly attended to ; 
and, if the weather be hot and dry, the trees will require watering abund- 
antly every evening. My trees in 13-inch pots and seven years old take 
one gallon each. AH the ventilators should be open from 8 a. m. till 6 p. m. 
Some fresh top-dressing of the usual compost may now be added, if the sur- 
face of the earth in the pots has become hard and close. 

Commence to thin the fruit and pinch in the laterals, as directed in page 
22, particularly of the figs. 

The red spider now requires particular attention, and the pocket lens 
must be brought into use. If S3a'inging fails to completely extirpate it, lime 
and sulphur, as in p. 45, must be resorted to. Remove plum-trees to the 
open air, to ripen their fruit, if there is a scarcity of room in the house ; also 
apricot trees (see pp. 20, 21.) 





THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 



j^ily, — Thorough ventilation must be attended to— it is a good practice to 
fasten back and front shutters, so that they cannot be closed. Syringing 
and watering as in June. If any of the trees are growing grossly and too 
rapidly (particularly figs), gently tilt up the pot on one side, and cut off all 
the roots on that side that are making their way into the soil, and a week 
after do the same with the other side. Kenew the top-dressing, if the sur- 
face has become firm from repeated watering. Frequent top-dressings m 
summer are better than manure water. Pinch in lateral shoots to withm 
two buds of their bases, to prevent the tree being crowded with shoots and 
leaves (see p. 22). The compressed earth in the pots gives vigor almost 
beyond belief. i i j 

Kemove pear-trees to the open air to ripen their fruit ; also peach and 
nectarine-trees (see pp. 24, 32). , . 

August — Ventilation and watering the same as in July ; syringing till 
the fruit begins to color, or, if the house can be kept perfectly free from the 
red spider by lime and sulphur, discontinue it from the last week of July. 
Still pinch in laterals, and, at the end, pinch off the points of all the leading 
shoots, except figs; these will not require any further pinching. 

Kemove peaches, nectarines and apricots to the hedge orchard house, or 
to the open air, to retard their ripening, if required. 

SeptemheT.—Y eui\\2ii\ou as in August, unless the weather be pecuharly 
windy and stormj^ In such weather the house maybe closed: watering 
must be continued, but no syringing. Pinch in laterals, if they still persist 

in srrowinor. • 

Oc^oZ>er.— Ventilation and watering as in September. About the middle 
of the month every tree— except late peaches with their fruit still on them— 
should be lifted, and all its roots cut off close to the bottom of the pot ; and 
about the 24th, top-dressing must be done (this is described m p. 18), and 
a o-allon of Water given to each tree. They may now be placed close to- 
gether, so as to give room for other plants, particularly Chrysanthemums, 
which bloom well in the orchard house all the autumn. Prune vines m pots 

^^ovemJer.— Ventilation the same as in October. On the 5th give each 
tree a gallon of water, the last for the year. The autumnal top-dressing 
and watering encourage the emission of young roots, so that the tree is pre- 
pared for its fruit-bearing work early in spring. If the brown aphis makes 
its appearance on the young shoots and buds, use the brush and tobacco- 
water, as directed in p. 44. • , * • 4- • 

December.— The house may now be shut up day and night. A registering 
thermometer should be kept inside ; if at any time this denotes a night 
temperature of 20°, some dry hay or litter should be placed among and on 
the pots, to six inches above the surface; this will keep their roots Irom 

injury by frost. .^ ^ • v j j. 

If the weather be windy, dry and mild, observe if the trees are mcbned to 
shrivel from being too dry; if so, give each a quart of water at 10 a. m.; other- 
wise, no water all this month. If they shrivel from severe frost, it_ will not 
matter, for as soon as a thaw comes they will recover. Pay attention to the 
brown peach aphis. , j + 

Conclusion.— I appear in the foregoing pages to have employed a great 
number of words in the endeavor to make plain this simple, agreeable and 
novel mode of cultivating fruit trees. Judging from my own feelings, its 






THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 




advan 
brouofht 



and pleasures are manifold. Eacli bud, leaf and blossom is 
close under the eye of the cultivator. All the minute and beautiful 



THE BRICK ARNOTt's STOVE. 
Fig. 12. 
















J 


V 





B 



D 




A, front elevation ; B, ground plan ; C, horizontal section through a 6 in A, showing the fire-bars or grating ; D, 
vertical section through c d in A, showing the front and back fire-lumps, the former reduced to nine inches in 
depth ; E, iron pipe leading to the chimney ; F, fire-lump, placed an inch and a half from the mouth of the pipe 
leading to the chimney, and about the same distance from each end : this causes the smoke to pass round, thus 
preventing a. loo rapid consumption of the fuel. The courses of bricks in height are laid flat. 

operations of nature can be closely watched in a genial climate. The silvery 
covering' of the peach blossom-bud, — the beauty of its fully developed flowers 
(how fresh and happy they always look !) — the anthers shedding their pol- 
len, — the germs gently swelling, — the downy, ruddy, luscious-looking coat 
of its charming fruit, are all calculated to give pleasure to the healthful, 
cheerful mind ; for the varied works of Nature's laboratory are brought near 
to the eye, near to the mind, near to the heart, which is instinctively lifted 
in thankfulness to the Giver of all such good and beautiful things. 

The above figures, the blocks of which have been kindly lent me by the 
editor, appeared in the " Gardener's Chronicle " for January 24th, 1846, and 
a description of them was given in the same paper for January Itth in the 
same year (p, 35). 





THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 




THE ARNOTT S STOVE BOILER. 
Fig. 13. 




I had then four in operation ; I have now twelve ; and have never yet 
seen any mode of heatin<^ small or moderate-sized houses so eflScient. 

For a house twenty to thirty feet long by twelve, a stove two feet four 
inches square, outside measure, and three feet ten inches high, and the fire- 
box eight inches over and eight inches deep, will be amply sufficient. For 
a house forty feet long by twelve, one of two feet ten inches in diameter 
and three feet ten inches high, the fire-box ten inches over and ten inches 
deep, will also answer well. The 
stove should be placed in the cen- 
tre of the house, within a foot or 
eighteen inches of the back wall, 
and the horizontal pipe* go at once 
into a chimney outside, or, what is 
better, the chimney may be built 
inside, and carried out of the back 
wall, just under the glass. By this' 
method no heat is lost. If it be 
thought necessary to have the feed- 
ing-door and draught-door outside, 
the draught-pipe must be reversed. 
I, however, prefer the doors inside, 
for the cold damp air of the house, 
floating near the ground floor, is 
sucked in and heated. No incon- 
venience is experienced from dust, 
as every morning, before the stove 
is cleaned out, a pint or so of water 
is poured in at the feeding-door, so 
as to saturate the ashes before they 
are drawn out. Coke from the gas- 
works is the only proper fuel to 
use. These stoves should be built 
with 4-inch brickwork and mortar, 
the fire-boxes with fire-bricks and 
fire-clay ; and ihej should not be 
used till two or three weeks after building, or the brick-work is apt to crack. 
I find nothing like iron for the roof or top of the stove, as Welsh tiles are 
apt to crack. A plate of cast-iron, nearly three-quarters of an inch thick, is 
necessary. On this a shallow pan, two inches deep, two feet square, of gal- 
vanized iron, filled with water, will always keep up a genial moisture in 
the house. 

The above, figured in the " Gardener's Chronicle" for May 12th, 1849, the 
blocks of which have been kindly lent to me by the editor, is perhaps the 
most economical and efficient hot-water apparatus ever introduced ; it is 
merely a boiler placed over the fire-box of an Arnott's stove, which does 
its duty most admirably, at a less cost for fitting up and fuel than any 
boiler 1 have yet seen in operation. 

* These stoves will not burn well with a long horizontal draught or flue: three feet must be 
the extreme length. 

f The flow and return-pipes were originally 2-inch ; they are now made 3 and 4-incli, and 
are found to do better. 




A, iron plate ; B, flow-pipe ; 
the boiler : E. feeding -door; 
flow-pipe ; H,return pipe.f 



C, return-pipe ; P, door over 
F, asli-pil or draughl-door ; G, 






THE ORCHAED HOUSE. 



I have now six in full work. They have been hitherto cast of three sizes 
— 14-inch, 16-inch, and 18-inch. One of fourteen inches (fourteen inches 
square), which holds just eight quarts of water, is now heating an orchard 
house forty feet by twelve, — it does this well, at a very small cost for fuel — 
coke ; another 16-inch boiler heats two propagating pits with gutters, each 
sixty feet long by six feet, also most efficiently ; another heats also a prop- 
agating pit sixty feet long by six feet. These two last-mentioned boilers 
have superseded two of those ribbed monstrosities which cost four times 
the amount to " set," and devoured four times the quantity of fuel required 
by the above very simple form of boiler. When used for heating houses, 
the feeding and draught doors may be outside, although I do not adopt this 
plan : but the stove should be, if possible, inside, as the dry gentle heat of 
the stove, with the moist heat from tanks or gutters, forms a perfect combi- 
nation. These boilers are made by Mr. Hughes, the Iron Foundry, Bishop's 
Stortford, at a charge of from 30s. to o5s. each. A good self-taught engineer 
is William Vale, of Sawbridgeworth : he has had some experience in build- 
ing Arnott stoves and fitting boilers to them in small forcing orchard houses. 



A SELECT LIST OF FRDITS ADAPTED FOR ORCHARD-HOUSE CULTURE ; 

Placed in the order of their ripening. The sorts marked thus,* may be 
selected by those requiring only a few trees. 




Apricots. 

Eed Masculine. 
Musch Musch. 
Large Early. 
*St. Ambroise. 
*Kaisha. 
JJlenheim. 
*Royal. 
*Feach. 

Peaches. 

*Red Nutmeg. 

Early Anne. 

*Early York. 

Acton Scott. 

*Early Grosse Mignonne 

*Precoce de Savoie. 

Peche Abec. 

Grosse Mignonne. 

*Noblesse. 

*Royal George. 

Peine des Vergers. 

Barrington. 

Chancellor. 

*Walburton Admirable. 

Late Admirable. 

*Bourdine. 

Desse Tardive. 



Dessert Plums. 
*Early Favorite. 
Early Prolific. 
St. Etienne. 
*De Montfort. 
Denniston's Superb. 
*Mamelonnee. 
*Green Gage. 
*Jeiferson. 
*Purple Gage, 
Woolston Black Gage. 
*Reine Claude de Bavay 
Guthrie's Late Green. 
*Coe's Golden Drop. 
Ickworth Imperatrice. 
St. Martin's Quetsche. 
Coe's Late Red. 
*Late Black Orleans. 

Kitchen Plums. 
*Early Orleans. 
*Kirke's. 
*Victoria. 
*Prince Englebert. 
Pond's Seedling. 
White Magnum Bonum. 
Diamond. 

*Autumn Compote. 
*Belle de Septembre. 



Cherries. 
*Belle d'Orleans. 
Early Purple Guigne. 
*K night's Early Black. 
*May Duke. 
*Archduke. 
Royal Duke. 
Belle de Choisy. 
Black Eagle. 
■ *Elton. 

Bigarreau Napoleon. 
, Bigarreau. 
*Reine Hortense. 
*Florence. 

*Coe's Late Carnation. 
*Late Duke. 
Belle Magnifique. 
Morello. 

Figs. 
Early Violet. 
White Marseilles. 
Brown Turkey. 
White Ischia (for forcing). 

Pears. 
*Doyenne d'Ete. 
Citi*on des Carmes. 
*Jargonelle. 




Pears — continued. 

Pius the Ninth. 
Seckle. 

*Colniar d'Ete. 
*Louise Bonne. 
Gransel's Bergamot. 
*BeuiTe Superfin. 
Beurre Rouge. 
Crassane. 
Doyenne Gris. 
*Marie Louise. 
*Thompson's. 
Beurre Clairgeau. 
Van Mons (Leon le Clerc 
*Glou Morceau. 
Beurre d'Aremberg, 
Passe Colmav. 
*Winter Nelis. 
Easter Beurre. 
Beurre de Ranee. 
^Josephine de Malines. 
*Bergamotte d'Esperen. 
*Prince Albert. 



Grapes {for the Common Ai^ples — continued 

Orchard House). Newtown Pippin. 
*Early Malingre. Northern Spy. 

♦Prolific Sweetwater. Reinette de Canada. 
Grove End Sweetwater. Melon Apple. 
*Muscat St. Laurent. 



Royal Muscadine. 
*White Remain. 
Purple Fontainbleau. 
*Esperione. 
*Black Hamburgh. 
Chaptal. 



Apples for the North. 
*White Juneating. 
*Trish Peach xVpple. 
*Cox's Orange Pippin. 
*Ribstone Pippin. 
*Golden Pippin. 



Cambridge Botanic Gar-Golden Reinette. 

den. *Van Mons Reinette. 

)*Muscat de Sarbelle. Coe's Golden Drop. 
Grapes {for the Mrcing"^^^'-^^'- ^^^PP^^- 

Orchard House). Strawherries. 

Chasselas Musquee. *Keen's Seedling. 

*Purple Constantia. *Seedling Eliza 

*White Frontignan. 
*Muscat of Alexandria 

Apples. 
Calville Blanche. 



Sir Harry. 
*Cavolina Superba. 
Ingram's Prince of Wales. 
♦British Queen. 



INDEX. 



Almond, ^^ 

Aphides, ^q 

Aphis, black ^„ 

powder T*. 

Apple 

sorts 
Apricot , 



34 

'.■/. 16 

on 

xu borders ^" 

caterpillar Ti 

compost for ^ 

potting 20 

as aD ornamental tree *" 

pruning 20 

retarding 

trees for decoration 
sorts 




Buds, leaf and fruit 22 

Camellia 1^ 

Charcoal fires 46 

Checking growth 24 

Clierry : 29 

houses lor -*'' 

sorts 29 

Chirimoya ^1 

Compost ^^ 

Coverings ^^ 

Crystal Palace 1* 

Currants ^^ 

Cut-down trees 23 

December ^"^ 

Estimates 10, H, 13 

February 45 

Fig..... 30,43 

in cellar 30 

management 30 

sorts 30 

Free ventilation 24 




Fruit spurs, note 23 

Glass recommended B 

Grape 32 

bushes 32 

forcing 33 

pruning 33 

Grenadilla 42 

Guava 42 

Insects, to keep off 27 

to destroy 44 

January 45 

July 47 

June 46 

Lee Chee 42 

List of Fruits 50 

Loquat 42 

Maiden trees 16, 22 

Mango 42 

Mangosteen 41 

Manure, liquid 18 

March 45 

May 46 

Mulberry 34 

Nectarine 21 

as an ornamental tree 21 

for treatment, see Peach 21 

sorts 26 

November 47 

October 47 

Orange 15, 39 

black fungus 41 

compost for 40 

Maltese 40 

Mandarin 40 

Tangerin 40 

Orchard house, origin of 6 

forcing 36 

hedge 38 

large span-roofed 13 

lean-to 7 

small span-roofed 11 

tropical , . . . 38 

Path, sunken 9 

Peach 21 

as an ornamental tree 25 

" en cordon oblique," 25 



PAGE 

Peach, miniature trees of 16 

pinching 22 

pruning 22, 23 

pyramidal 25 

retarding 24 

sorts 26 

Pear 31 

house 31 

for winter pears 32 

sorts 32 

Pinching off. 17, 22 

Plaintain 42 

Plum 26 

house 27 

sorts '. 27,28 

Pomegranate 41 

Pots 15 

Potting , 17 

Pruning 16 

Red spider 27, 45, 46 

Rose apple 42 

Sapodilla 43 

September 47 

Shoots shrivelling 15 

Strawberry , . . . 34 

compost 34 

potting 35 

sorts 35 

Succession houses. 11 

Sulphur and lime 45 

Sweet Lime 42 

Syringing 18 

Thinning fruit 18 

Tiffany 29, 46 

Tobacco smoke 44 

water 44 

Top-dressing 18 

Trees, feeding from below 19 

stations for 12 

number wanted 20 

Ventilators 10 

netting for 37 

Water 24 

Year 1 st 17 

2d 17 







APPENDIX. 



FRUIT TREES IN ORCHARD HOUSES. 

BY WILLIAM SAUNDERS, GERMANTOWN, PA. 

Feuit trees of all kinds flourish so luxuriantly in the open air in 
America, that it would, at first sight, seem perfectly unnecessary to provide 
them with glazed roofs, and nurse them up in pots ; but when we recollect 
that the curculio destroys most of our plums and nectarines, that both them 
and the peach are prone to a luxuriance incompatible with the highest 
degree of fruitfulness, that mildew in various forms continually insinuates 
itself and makes sad havoc with our calculations ; not to moi'e than mention 
grubs and borers, late spring and early autumn frosts, the cutting, blight- 
ing winds of spring and wilting droughts of summer, quite a formidable array 
of calamities can be enumerated, without infringing upon truth, as every 
grower of these fruits has but too good reason to know. 

In the orchard house, all these conflicting opponents to success may be 
avoided ; the curculio is too cunning to be caught under roof, and the borers 
will seldom be found under glass if the trees are free of them when intro- 
duced ; the atmosphere is so completely under control that mildew and all 
other maladies consequent upon sudden ai^d extreme changes may be 
prevented. 

Many of these advantages, however, are only incidental. Earliness of 
beai'ing and continued productiveness are the essential characteristics ; the 
certainty of the crop, as well as the ready means of accelerating the ripen- 
ing, are also subjects worthy of note. 

In all fruit-bearing trees a certain maturit}' has to be attained before fruit 
is produced ; and the period when this takes place depends much on local 
circumstances. "Whatever produces excessive vigor in plants is favorable 
to the production of leaf buds, and unfavorable to the formation of flower 
buds ; while, on the other hand, such circumstances as tend to diminish 
luxuriance, and to check rapid vegetation, without affecting the health of 
the individual, are more favorable to the production of flower buds than of 
leaf buds." When a tree is planted in a deep, rich soil, in a climate con- 
genial to its growth, the fruiting period will be the longest deferred ; from 
the encouragement to the extension of roots, branches will be produced 
with a barren luxuriance for many years. Whereas, a tree set in poor 
gTound will make feeble growths, but will blossom and fruit at an early 
period, although such fruiting may be the means of seriously weakening it ; 
bsome trees will thus fruit themselves to death. This is a well-known law, ' 






and has been acted upon by vai-ious expedients, such as root pruning-, bend- 
ing- down branches, ringing-, etc. The most popular, because most available, 
method of inducing fruitfulness at present, is that of modifying excessive 
vigor by grafting, or otherwise introducing those of robust growth on 
stocks of weaker habit, familiarly known as the "dwarfing system." This 
practice is followed with more or less success, according as experience dis- 
covers the peculiarities of growth and constitutional vigor of individual 
trees. 

It is ver}^ obvious that the limited amount of soil in a pot will speedily be 
interwoven with roots ; growth will then be checked and fruit buds formed ; 
it is equallj^ apparent that these conditions must limit the quantity of fruit 
that can be matured. Here the orchard house system becomes valuable ; 
the pots being sot on a border of soil early in their growth, young roots find 




SECTION OF AN OKCHAED HOUSE. 



access into it through openings left for that purpose, and thus the plant is 
provided with an extra supply of nourishment during the period of formation 
and ripening of the crop ; the roots thus produced being removed when the 
crop is perfected, all tendency to redundant wood-growth is checked, and 
the branches are again thickly studded with fruit buds. 

The greatest objection to this course of culture is its expense, involving, 
as it does, much care and time, in watering and other necessary attentions, 
neglect of which will inevitably be followed bji- failures. These objections 
might be partly obviated by setting out the plants in permanent borders ; 
and to guard against over luxuriance in the first stages of growth, and defi- 
ciency of nourishment in the future, let spaces be left between the plants 
for root pruning and additions of fresh soil, as either of these operations 
is demanded. The following figure shows the section of an orchard house 
arranged according to the above suggestion. 

, The trees are planted in the spaces a a a. The spaces 5 5 to be filled 
With soil during summer, removed altogether after the crop is gathered, or 





turned over so as to disturb the roots sufficient to check growth. The wiills 
each side of these spaces to be built pigeon-hole fashion, so that a communi- 
cation may be provided for the roots. The shelves c c will be useful for 
strawberries in pots, or other similar purposes. The heating apparatus, if 
any is required, is placed at d. 

This arrangement secures all the advantages of a system of pot culture, and 
would be equally productive and easier of management. The larger body 
of soil would retain moisture for a longer period, and daily visitations of the 
watering pot would not be required. 



P T C U L T U R E F G R A P E S . 

BY WILLIAM SAUNDERS, GEKMANTOWN, PA. 

We doubt whether the culture of grapes in pots will ever become popular 
or general, as it is a costly mode of producing fruit. It is true that, under 
a given surface of glass, as much fruit may be raised from vines in pots as 
from the best established and permanent plants ; but then, allowance must 
be made for the previous preparator}'- growth of the pot vines, as they 
require to be grown under glass for two seasons before fruiting, and during 
the second year they will occupy as much space as when in fruit. Two 
houses, therefore, are required to get one crop ; and when we take into con- 
sideration the amount of time and labor required in potting, watering, and 
general management, it will be found that the cost of production is more 
than double that of border vines ; and even to insure these results it is 
necessary to prepare a new set of fruiting plants yearly ; for although it is 
perfectly practicable to take a crop yearly from the same plants even in 
pots, yet the crop is so small that it will not repay labor, and, so far as com- 
parative economy is considered, more will be realized by fruiting young, 
well-prepared plants, even at the expense of a second house, the increase in 
the crop more than remunerating the increased expense. A thorough trial 
of these methods has led to this conviction. The labor and constant watch- 
fulness inseparable from pot culture in a climate so varied and intense in 
its extremes as ours, may ultimately lead us to adopt a modification of the 
system, combining all its advantages on much more economical principles. 

The principal object attained by growing fruit trees in pots is the entire 
control which the cultivator has over the root growth ; and with reference to 
forcing into fruit before the natural season, there is a very great advantage 
in having the soil into which the plants are growing, surrounded by the 
same temperature in which the branches are exposed; for when the branches 
of a plant are stimulated by a greater degree of heat than that influencing 
the roots, a species of exhaustion ensues highly detrimental to growth. 

With reference to complete isolation from external influences, it is evi- 
dent that the same conditions may be secured by "preparing a small border 
inside the house, and planting out the vines with a view to permanence. 
In other words, plant a number of vines in a large pot, instead of placing 
them separately in more contracted spaces ; for a border placed in this posi- 
tion is as much dependent upon the care of the cultivator as the pot, with ' 
,the additional advantage of being better guarded against extremes either \ 







THE OECHAKD HOUSE. 



of heat, drought, or moisture. The border once prepared will require little 
farther care, and the plants will produce good crops yearly without the con- 
stant renewal demanded by exclusive pot culture. 

The accompanying sketch is introduced, the better to illustrate the above 
system. It will be obsei'ved that the soil in the pit a, Fig. 1, is wholly 
inside the house and completely isolated from the walls, so that it is sur- 
rounded by the same temperature as the branches. The soil is placed upon 
a stratum of drainage ; oyster shells, brick, rubbish, and such like will 
answer well for this purpose, and insure porosity and dryness when 
required. The arrangements of the plants h will be understood from the 
section and ground plan, Fig. 2. The position of the heating apparatus is 




Fig. ]. » 

indicated at c*. Large-sized draining tiles or flues built wifcli brick, pigeon- 
hole fashion, for the admission of air and heat into the soil, should be placed 
across the bottom of the border through the drainage, as shown at the dot- 
ted lines d. These may be placed six or eight feet apart, and left open at the 
ends, that the air may more effectually permeate the soil ; by this means the 
soil will be kept at a suitable temperature, if ordinary care is exercised in 
the application of water. The drainage will always prevent anything like 
stagnation of water, but in the early stages of growth the soil should be 
kept rather dry, which will increase its temperature. During active 
growth, water will be required more freely, and increased vigor may be 
imparted by manurial solutions ; these applications should, however, be 
administered with caution, and only when the plants most require it ; the 
jmajoritj'^ of vine borders are made too rich and extensive at the outset, a 




fruitful source of maladies, the cause being seldom suspected or recognized. 
Again, when the fruit approaches maturity the ripening- process will he 
accelerated by gradually withholding water from the roots of the plants. It 
is well to remember that, just as we remove plants, as it were, from the 
hands of nature, the necessity increases for a thorough knowledge of the 
principles of vegetable growth, and the application of its agencies; hence 
we may expect to hear of failures in orchard houses ; the successful produc- 
tion of crops from this highly artificial state of culture will at once draw a 
broad line of distinction between tlie scientific cultivator, and the mere 
routine practitioner. 




Fig. 2. 

_ It will be observed that the plants are placed two feet from each other, 
m rows three feet apart ; the object in planting thus closely at first is to 
secure a good crop at once, and, as occasion demands, the plants may be 
thinned by drawing out the least valuable. It also affords an opportunity 
of occasionally cutting a plant close by the surface in order to procure 
young, strong shoots, which are the most productive ; heavier crops can be 
taken_ from the same surface, from young, vigorous canes, than from old 
and rigidly spur-pruned stems, according to the present prevalent system 
of management, and I feel convinced that this mode of renewal in graperies 
will ultimately become popular, as its advantages become known. 

When a plant of two or three years' growth is cut down, a robust growth 
will follow ; this shoot, if allowed to proceed unchecked, would grow to an 
unnecessary length, and if pruned back in winter the most mature and best \ 






0021 489 218 2 




i Oo THE OECHARD HOUSE. 

fruit buds would be removed. To insure fertility near the base the shoot 
should be stopped by pinching out the extreme point when about two feet 
in length. Lateral shoots will now push, and the uppermost should be 
removed entirely, so as to cause the top bud to break. This treatment will 
cause the lower buds to fill up ; the laterals should be stopped at the second 
or third leaf from the stem. The same course should be followed when the 
shoot has grown four or five feet more, keeping the laterals checked, but 
not entirely removed until the wood commences to ripen, when they may 
gradually be removed, cutting out the lowermost first. The same treatment 
is applicable to the preparation of fruiting plants in pots. . 

The quantity of fruit that can be grown by this arrangement will be 
much greater than could be secured by any other system, and for early forc- 
ing it combines all that is necessary for complete success. Indeed, fruit 
may be produced at all seasons, allowing the plants a few weeks' rest after 
ripening a crop, and started again to grow, thus producing more than one 
yearly crop. Four crops have been thus taken from the same plants in 
thirty-two months. How long plants would survive such treatment we have 
no means of ascertaining, but on the renewal mode it might be followed for 
an indefinite period. 

THE END. 



JDTZ, G-i^^isTT's ]^TE;\^^ c3-i^.i^FE book:. 




VINE CULTURE 

FOR 

THE VINEYARD AND THE GARDEN : 

INCLUDING 

PLAIN DIRECTIONS FOR PROPAGATION, PRUNING, TRAINING, 

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL, &c., AND EMP>RACTNG THE 

IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE GERMAN 

WORK OF REUBENS. 

ALSO, 

FULL DIRECTIONS FOR WmS-MAEING, 



DPv. C. W. GRANT, 

OF lONA ISLAND, N. T, 

WITH NUMEROUS IL 1. US 1' RATIONS. 

Copies by Mail, post-paid, $1 25. 




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.0 021 489 218 2 



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